


At A Moment's Notice

by JWHolmes (Ande883)



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-09 05:02:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11662170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ande883/pseuds/JWHolmes
Summary: Nick's choice to renew his life and become a police officer has become the greatest decision he's ever made. But he soon learns that police work is a lot different than what's on television. Through thick and thin, Nick learns the real reason he became an officer of the law, and eventually something even more important: The reason he still finds the joy in living.





	1. Prologue: The Root of All Evil

**Author's Note:**

> Why hello people of AO3. This is JWHolmes speaking, otherwise known as Ande883 on FFN. This story is further along over on FanFiction.net, so if you can't stand to wait until I get caught up here, go ahead and check it out there. Trust me, you won't hurt my feelings if you do. In fact, I insist that you do. Anyways, have fun on this nice little journey of mine, or at least try to have fun in the saddest place on earth!!!

A cold paw reached for the door, coming into contact with metal that felt even colder. His paws always became cold when he was nervous, and it was something he always hated, probably because it intensified the uneasy feelings he so often had. He pushed against the door with all of his weight. It was heavy, more so than originally anticipated. He never understood the real reason some doors felt like this. He wondered if it made the mammal behind the door feel more powerful or demeaning.

It made sense for this one. He was The Boss, after all.

Cold. Everything was cold. His paws, the door, and even the air that blasted him in the face as he entered the pitch black room. The door slammed shut behind him with all of its weight, causing a metallic clank to echo in the seemingly endless darkness. The sound caused his fur to stand on end as he flinched and turned back towards the door which was no longer visible. He looked around and blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the darkness before continuing forward. He vaguely caught sight of a chair about ten feet in front of him.

"Have a seat." a shrill voice commanded. He jumped at the sound and scurried over to the chair, not wanting to keep the other mammal waiting. He sat and nearly jumped out of the chair as he felt it's surface; metal, and just as cold as everything else in the room, including the voice that accompanied him. A few moments passed in total silence save for the dull patter of footsteps on linoleum that slowly closed the distance between the two mammals.

A click and then blindness. His paw shot up to the left side of his face as he shielded his eyes from the sudden light. They adjusted quickly, though all he could see was the polished floor beneath him and a figure standing just on the edge of the light coming from the lamp, back turned to him.

"Weaselton." the figure stated, hints of impatience in the quick and concise delivery.

"Yeah boss?" the weasel replied. He had been called to the boss' quarters, and the nerve which accompanied him was most likely due to the mystery behind the calling. He had only met with the boss directly on a couple of occasions, and he still didn't know exactly what he looked like. Each of those times had been the most terrifying experience of his life, and right now was quickly elevated to a level of fear far greater than ever before.

"Do you know why we have called you here tonight?" the boss asked. His voice was powerful and it bounced off the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room they were in. The tone of the boss' voice made Weaselton think that this was not going to end well. He knew that the boss was not one to be angered. He noticed a slight twitch from the boss' shadowy figure.

"N… no, s...s… sir." he stuttered. He hadn't intended for his response to come out so shaky, but he really couldn't help it with how petrified he was. Weaselton thought he heard the boss scoff at his response.

"We understand you are familiar with an old colleague of ours. One Nicholas Wilde?" His query was emotionless as if he were negotiating a business deal, but the words penetrated the overwhelming silence like a sharp knife.

"I am, sir," Weaselton replied, this time with much more confidence than before. He didn't know what it was about hearing Nick's name, but it put him a little bit more at ease. It was probably the fact that Nick had a sense of morals, much unlike the other in the room with him.

The figure began pacing in circles, always being sure to stay just far enough away from the lamp to keep his face hidden in the shadows.

"Then you know that he is a threat!" the boss exclaimed, sharply turning to face Weaselton. His red eyes seemed to glow in the darkness and some of his white fur became visible, gleaming in the lamplight. The Boss was furious. "He knows too much about what we do! If we know the real Nick Wilde, then he would not hesitate to use that knowledge to take us out!" The weasel looked to the lamp and scowled before turning back to his pacing around Weaselton.

He knew why he was called to this strange meeting now. He was being given an assignment, and he was feeling very inclined to take it. A look of determination replaced his previously terrified expression.

"What do you need me to do, boss?" he asked calmly. The boss looked out of the corner of his eyes at the weasel in the chair, a devious grin creeping onto his muzzle.

"We need him gone, but you know how much we hate to get our paws dirty. You have proven to us over the last few months that you are a grade-A sales mammal." Weaselton couldn't help but feel a smidgen of pride. He had worked for this particular mammal for several years, but recently he'd been doing a lot more than his regular duties required him. He was hoping to move up in the organization, and it appeared that the boss was taking notice.

"We want, no… we need you to convince Wilde to quit the police force. You know we're not ones for violence, and if the fox doesn't have any authority over us, then there really is nothing he can do. It's the only way we can be sure that business continues as usual, and we will not take no for an answer. You got that?" Weaselton straightened up in the chair.

"I won't let you down, boss." he replied with gusto.

"Good. Then get the hell out of our sight." the boss commanded coldly. Weaselton jumped out of the chair and scurried over to where he thought the door was, only to run straight into the wall next to it. He quickly corrected his mistake and opened the large and heavy door. It shut with the echo of a metallic clunk.

The remaining weasel stayed in the dark. He was more comfortable there. He had never been fond of sunlight, and even the brightness of the lamp was too much for him. He grabbed the switch and twisted it to turn off the lamp. He stood in total darkness for a few moments before speaking to himself out loud.

"You better not let us down, otherwise we'll have to take things into our own paws." he mumbled, letting out a shriek of laughter before skipping off to the other end of the room and disappearing into the darkness.


	2. Humble Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll probably stick to a new chapter every day until I get all caught up. After that happens I'll update on the same schedule as over on FanFiction.net, which is every Saturday at 6 A.M. CST. Anyways, please enjoy this chapter!

The sun had just gone below the horizon on a warm summer night. The stars in the sky were barely visible from the light of the city drowning them out. No one born in the city had ever seen more than a couple on a clear night, and most mammals would never live to see the billions that were visible from a spot outside the city limits. Zootopia was in twilight, and some of its citizens were beginning their nightly routines, preparing themselves for the Monday that lay ahead of them. Others were just beginning their night, taking advantage of the last few hours of the weekend while they could before reality set back in the next day.

Nick Wilde was one of the latter. His work weeks were constantly spent working hard to protect the city that he had lived in his entire life, so he cherished any time that he had off. He was one of the luckiest, having both Saturday and Sunday off, free to do whatever it was that he wanted. Tonight was a special night. His old friend Finnick had threatened to find him in his sleep and pound his head in with his favorite bat if he didn't hang out with him, so Nick and Finnick were going to spend the night catching up with each other at a bar. Nick wasn't one for drinking all that much, but he figured he might have just one. Not only was he not too much of a fan of alcohol, he also didn't like the whole bar scene. It probably stemmed from his earlier years, back when he was selling fake wool rugs and he was just barely legal for drinking when he would party it up at dirty and disgusting bars, only to wake up the next morning with the hangover of a lifetime. No matter his past experiences, Nick was glad to finally have the time to catch up with an old friend.

The two foxes were walking down the street just a couple of blocks from their destination.

"Man, you need to get a notha job or somthin'. You neva wanna chill or anythin'!" Finnick exclaimed. Nick chuckled at the smaller fox's frustration.

"I know, bud, I'm sorry I haven't been available. Work is always busy, you know how it goes." Nick said. He was genuinely sorry that he didn't have nearly as much time to talk to Finnick anymore. He was the one mammal that truly understood him, well, at least understood the old Nick.

"Yeah yeah. You and bein' that big city cop and all. I don't get what happened to you! Ya used to be cool, now you just a regular old tod, all borin' and the likes!"

"Hey now, I'm still Nick. I just have different priorities. And if you want to blame anyone for this, blame Judy. She's the one that got me tied up in being a cop." Nick chuckled.

"Ah, so it was the bunny girl! I knew she was runnin' 'round with you!" Finnick said.

"No, it's not... I could never be with her like that. We're just partners at work and good friends. That's all, Fin. Nothing more." Nick said, getting a little more defensive that he would have liked.

"Oh, so she got you in the friend-zone! Dude, you ain't ever gettin' outta there! She got you in a locked cage, and she's just pokin' you with a pointed stick from the outside!"

"No, trust me when I say that we have a professional, platonic relationship. I don't even think she likes me that way, and I'm no different." Nick said. Finnick rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Women." the smaller fox mumbled. Nick was already tired of the conversation, so he decided not to fire it back up. As Nick looked up from the smaller fox, they were just approaching the doors to the bar. Nick could already hear the loud chatter and smell the alcohol from outside.

This was the bar that Fin wanted to go to? Nick thought. He shrugged as he pushed open the door, a blast of cool air blowing his fur back slightly as he let Finnick in before him. Nick walked in himself and the door slowly closed behind them.

The sudden change in atmosphere was a bit shocking to Nick. He had just come from the quiet late night streets of the city and now it was loud with other mammals talking and music playing in the background, though it was impossible to make out any of the lyrics. The smell of bar food, alcohol, and something that reminded Nick of piles of throw-up filled his nostrils and caused him to grimace. It came on to him quite strong, but after a few minutes, he was sure he'd get used to the interesting mix of scents.

The bar was dimly lit from a few long fluorescent bulbs hanging from the ceiling as well as neon signs of various types of brews hanging on the walls. Finnick led Nick through the crowded bar and over to a couple of open chairs with a familiar mammal sitting in one of them.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I invited Weaselton. I hope you don't mind, but he said he needed to talk to ya or somethin' like that. Figured tonight would be a good way to get that done, too." Finnick said.

Great… Nick thought. This is going to make everything a little more interesting. Nick played it cool, acting as though he didn't mind. Both him and Finnick took a seat at the bar. He turned to Duke Weaselton.

"I haven't seen you in a while, Duke. What have you been up to?" Nick asked, trying his best to be friendly.

"Oh, you know, the same as usual, Wilde. The boss has been keepin' me busy." There were a few moments of silence between the three mammals before Weaselton spoke again. "I understand that you're a cop now, Wilde. That cute little rabbit do something to ya, or what?" he said. Nick couldn't help but feel an anger wash over him when he heard Weaselton say that forbidden word. He didn't know why he felt so angry, but he knew that if Judy were here, she'd have already socked him a good one.

"First of all, only rabbits can call other rabbits cute. Second, her name is Judy. And third, yes, she is the one responsible for me being a cop." Nick said, once more getting quite defensive. Weaselton backed away from Nick a little as he spoke his mind, then put on a devious smile.

"Well, then. I didn't think you were one to be so sensitive to stuff like that, Wilde," he remarked.

"I just think that someone like Judy is deserving of a lot more respect than that, don't you think?" Nick barked. Nick's tone had caused Weaselton to jump a little in his seat. Even though he acted tough, the weasel knew that Nick could put a pretty good beating on him in the current setting. He held both of his paws up in defense.

"Well sorry. I'll just stop talking about it then," he said. Nick placed his elbows on the counter and rested his chin in his paws.

"Good," Nick mumbled under his breath.

Everyone was quiet for a while after Weaselton nearly got himself beat within seconds of addressing Nick. The weasel figured it would be best to let him cool off for a while before asking him what he wanted to. Nick got a glass of water and quickly gulped down every drop in the glass, then asked for a refill. Finnick ordered three shots of some tequila and offered one of them to Nick. His first and last time trying the liquid occurred in his early twenties, and that ended in the worst hangover Nick could remember. He refused the shot and Finnick took his own and the one intended for Nick, while the other went to Weaselton, who also knocked it back with ease.

After Nick cooled down he started conversing with Finnick, pretty much ignoring the presence of the weasel next to him. He still managed to catch some of Nick and Finnick's conversation and took every opportunity to butt in when he could. Weaselton was getting tired of waiting for an opportunity to ask Nick what he wanted to ask, but he was brought relief when Finnick left to go to the bathroom.

"So, Wilde. What's it like being a cop?" he asked, hoping that his ice-breaker wouldn't anger the already on-edge fox. Nick turned in his seat and faced the weasel. His face remained completely neutral to the addressing that the weasel gave him.

"It's pretty enjoyable. It gets stressful at times, but I like it a lot. It helps to have a good partner." Nick said. Weaselton relaxed after finding out that Nick didn't actually want to kill him and was content with having a casual conversation.

"You don't get nervous or anything when things get a bit dangerous?" the weasel asked.

"No, those are the times when I think I enjoy my job the most. It really gets your blood pumping."

"But you never think that your life is in danger? I would think that'd scare away most mammals from doing what you do."

"Oh, there's hardly a day that goes by when I don't have at least one incident that gets me a bit nervous. Nobody wants to die in the line of duty, but I'm not afraid to put my life at risk to save another." Nick said. Deep down, Weaselton was thinking that it was going to be really hard to convince Nick to quit.

"And what about all the negative attention the media gives you lot? I know the press really likes to point out everything the ZPD does wrong." Weaselton said. This had to stump the fox. Nobody can stand to have their faces plastered on the news with all kinds of negative things being said for everyone to hear.

"I really don't mind it all that much. As long as I do my job right, then I don't get chastised. Any negative attention the media gives us is all a stereotype that a few officers created a while back. Officers like them are no longer with the ZPD anyways." Nick replied. The weasel cringed internally. Damn, that fox is good. It was time to bring out the big guns.

"Ok, but have you thought about what everyone else thinks of you switching sides?" Weaselton said. Nick looked curiously at the weasel sitting next to him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, everyone from the good ol' days hates you now. They all think you're gonna go after them or somethin' like that. I mean, you do know what we all do for a living, and it's not necessarily one hundred percent legal."

"I think you guys are getting a little too paranoid," Nick said. He leaned back a little and took another sip from his water. "I'm not going to go after anyone on purpose. But if you find yourself doing illegal things when I'm around, then be prepared to get arrested. But otherwise, you have nothing to fear, dude. I'm still Nick, after all."

While Weaselton did find some solace in Nick's words, he knew that the boss was not going to take a no for an answer. He needed to get Nick to quit the police force.

"Well, I don't think anyone else is going to believe that. And I have a feeling eventually that is going to haunt you. We did use to work with some pretty brutal mammals. I know that they could do some pretty bad things if they ever felt threatened by your position." Weaselton said. Nick chuckled from deep within his throat.

"Hey, I've got some pretty big guys to protect me if that ever happens. I don't think I have anything to fear but thank you for the concern." Nick said. Just as Weaselton was about to continue, Finnick returned from his trip to the restroom and sat back down, taking Nick's attention from the weasel to the much smaller fox. Duke Weaselton had just been defeated and he growled in frustration as he got off of his seat and started walking away. Nick turned around and called out to the weasel.

"Hey! You leaving or what?" Nick said. Weaselton didn't bother turning around for his response.

"I got some things to do. I'm sure I'll see you around, Wilde," he said with disdain as he disappeared behind some other mammals. Nick turned back around and re-focussed on Finnick and his stories of trying to make pawpsicles on his own. He couldn't help but feel a little bit nervous at his abrupt dismissal, but he shook the feelings and continued his night of catching up with Finnick.

Overall, Nick thought his meeting with Finnick was enjoyable. He had the chance to talk to one of his best friends again and that was something that he wished he could do more often. Seeing Duke Weaselton there threw Nick off a little bit, but after he left everything seemed to go smoothly. He was finally able to have a meaningful conversation with Finnick and find out that the smaller fox had actually managed to get a real job, even if it was cooking at a fast food place. He told Nick that he wasn't giving up hustling for good, but it would be more of a side job rather than full time. Nick was happy for his friend and he wished him luck as he left the bar, and at nearly one o'clock in the morning.

Nick exited the place and turned down the street towards his apartment. He had about a ten-minute walk ahead of him, but he wanted to keep that as short as possible due to the area he was currently in. Nick figured he could handle himself in case he got jumped, but he wasn't fond of fighting other mammals, and he wasn't the biggest one out there either. It was just best to avoid a situation like that altogether.

Nick had only been walking in the cool air of that summer night for a short while when he heard someone whisper to him from an alley as he passed it. Nick looked in the alley but kept walking, though he froze when he saw a shadowy figure that he thought he recognized standing there. Nick looked closer and the figure moved out into the light that the street lamps provided.

"Weaselton?" Nick said. The weasel had been waiting for Nick probably since he left the bar.

"That's right, Wilde," the weasel said, his voice filled with smugness. Something had changed with him, and it was making Nick a bit nervous. "I still haven't gotten the answer that I desire. You will leave the police force. Boss wasn't taking no for an answer." The weasel stepped forward onto the sidewalk and into the light completely. Alongside him were two other weasels who Nick didn't recognize.

"I know the boss doesn't like violence when he's not in control, but he'll have to understand the reason I beat the correct answer out of you."

Instantly Nick's fight response triggered and he braced himself for an attack.

Weaselton nodded and both of the weasels at his sides charged at Nick with impressive speed, but Nick was faster and was able to jump to the side, avoiding the coming animals. They skidded to a stop and turned around to face Nick, who stood strong in a fighting stance, fists raised and eyes fixed on his opponents. They charged Nick once more, the weasel to the left being faster than the other. As they approached, Nick firmly held his ground until the last second when he jumped to the left, and in one swift motion, brought his elbow into the side of the weasel's head, sending him careening into the path of the other.

Both weasels lay on the ground, moaning in pain as Nick looked to Duke Weaselton, who wore a furious face as he began his charge at Nick. In the light of the streetlamps, Nick noticed something glistening around Weaselton's fingers. It was a weapon that seemed so simple, but in reality could be incredibly fatal if the wielder knew what they were doing.

Brass knuckles.

Nick had become so distracted by the sight of the dangerous weapon that He failed to react when they were sent straight towards Nick's muzzle. Nick's head whipped back and to the side, the power from the punch being enough to knock him onto his back. There was an instant surge of pain in Nick's jaw and he knew that he'd be feeling that in the morning, but he refocused on his assailant as he spat out a tooth, saliva, and blood. Weaselton was just about to bring a knockout blow to Nick's skull, but the fox quickly lifted his feet and kicked with full force into the weasel's stomach. He was sent flying backward into the brick wall of the building behind them and then fell face first onto the sidewalk, struggling for air and consciousness.

Nick got to his feet, rotating his jaw as he reached for his phone. He was going to need some backup.

Nick could see himself. He was somewhere above his body, viewing himself from a high angle. But he could feel nothing; he couldn't move at all. The whole space he could see was white except for the fox that stood below him. But the strangest part of this whole experience was the version of him that he could see below. It didn't look like himself. The version below looked exactly like him, yet completely different. This Nick was missing something. His face remained unreadable like nothing was there.

He looked like he had lost everything.

He began walking. He began walking and saying things only to himself. There was no one else around.

"I was happy once. I felt like I was on top of the world, and no one could touch me. I had the life; I was my own boss and no one was better at my job than me. I never thought anything would change, and I was fine with that because I was happy."

Nick remembered the time when that was him. This fox below him was definitely him, no doubt about that now.

"But I couldn't have been any more wrong,"

The space surrounding them went from white to a scene of Nick walking through a field of short green grass. A young and wide-eyed rabbit was seen walking next to him. Nick knew exactly who that was.

"Things changed, but not for the worse like I would have thought. I met someone who completely changed the way I saw the world. Nothing from that day forward would ever be the same. I didn't think that soon after I met her, she'd become the most important person in my life,"

The figure of the rabbit disappeared, the scene around him darkened, and the fox fell onto his knees and his paws covered his face as he wept by the small stone in front of him

"Little did I know that she would be taken from me just as I realized that."

"Ahhhhh!"

Nick awoke with a start in his bed, panting heavily and wide-eyed. The sound of his alarm clock beeped loudly and it nearly brought a ringing to his ears. His fist slammed down on the snooze button and he lay back down on top of the pillow. After last night he hadn't gotten much sleep. He didn't get back to his apartment until nearly 3 A.M. because of that whole incident with Duke Weaselton and his cronies. He still didn't know what happened to the other two weasels, but he figured they took off while he and Weaselton were in the middle of their little battle.

Nick lay in bed and staring at the ceiling, his eyelids beginning to feel heavier with each passing second. His eyes closed for only a few seconds, then they shot open again. He definitely wasn't feeling it this morning, but he knew that he needed to get up or he'd be late for work. Nick turned his head over to look at his alarm clock once again.

Uh-oh…

It was at that moment that Nick realized that he had fallen asleep again and he was about to be late for work.

In a blur of motion, Nick flew out of bed and straight for the bathroom in nothing but his boxers. Just before he entered his bathroom he stopped himself. He knew that he wouldn't have time for a shower. That would take way too long. Lots of scent-blocker today… he thought.

Nick retreated back to his bedroom and sloppily threw on his uniform. He usually took pride in the way he looked in his uniform and made sure he always looked his best, but today was an exception. He did take a few moments to make sure that his badge was extra shiny.

Still not completely pleased with his appearance, but dreading the talk he was sure to get from Bogo and Judy, the latter being the one he feared most, Nick ran out the door to his apartment. Not showering did save him several minutes, and he knew that he'd only be slightly late if he ran.

And run he did.

Nick had never run so fast in his life. The last time he'd sprinted like his life depended on it was when his life actually did depend on it as he was being chased by Mr. Manchas who was savage at the time.

Nick's lungs burned for oxygen as he fought against the clock. He flew past mammals and nearly ran into a light pole while weaving between civilians. By the time he'd made it to the ZPD, Nick was out of breath, wheezing, and ready to go towards the light that he was seeing in the distance. But on the bright side, he'd made it to work in record time, which was only fast enough to get him there ten minutes late, but it was better than if he'd actually taken his time.

Nick huffed as he ascended the stairs to the station and he relied on the railing to help him up because he could barely breathe and his legs felt like gelatin. Nick pushed the door to the ZPD, but it wouldn't budge. He tried a few more times, but he still couldn't get the door open. Nick looked at the handle in bewilderment and nearly slapped himself in the face when it read "Pull." Dumb fox… Nick thought. He pulled the door open and felt a wave of relief wash over him as a blast to cool air hit him.

Nick walked up to the front desk where Clawhauser sat in his usual spot. The cheetah looked up from his desk and spotted Nick coming his way, then spoke something into the microphone on his desk. Nick couldn't make out the response he got, but judging by the expression on his face it probably wasn't good.

"Chief would like to see you in his office," Clawhauser said quietly. Nick knew immediately that he was going to get chewed out for being late.

"Alright, thanks, bud. Wish me luck!" Nick said as jovially as possible while still panting from his unplanned morning run.

"You're gonna need it," Clawhauser mumbled as Nick walked towards the stairs. The cheetah's unjoyful response was enough to unsettle Nick to actually feel nervous. Though it wasn't a lecture on punctuality from Bogo that was making him feel that. It was the same thing, but coming from Judy. And the mystery of when that would occur made it even worse.

Nick approached the oak and frosted glass door that bore the name of his boss. Without hesitation, he placed three knocks on the wood of the door. He heard Bogo's deep baritone voice deliver a hefty "come in," and Nick opened the door.

Inside sat Chief Bogo, whose face remained as stark as ever. That was what Nick expected. What de did not expect was the form of his partner sitting in the single chair designed for mammals of much larger stature. She turned around to face him and the expression she wore was priceless in Nick's eyes. It was a mixture of 'you're a complete moron,' and 'Oooo! You're in trouble!" She had a devious little grin on, but Nick could tell from her eyes that she wanted to wring his neck. She'd probably gotten an earful from Bogo just because Nick was late. He made himself a mental note to apologize for that later.

Nick walked up to the chair with his trademark grin and half-lidded eyes. The eyes were partly because of lack of sleep, but mostly because he loved seeing Bogo get annoyed by Nick's carefree attitude. He liked to see the buffalo get right to the point of snapping, and then he would stop pestering him.

Nick jumped onto the same chair as Judy and he sat down, the towering cape buffalo never releasing his gaze from the fox. Bogo sighed and put on his glasses, grabbing a document from off of his desk.

"I'll deal with you later, Wilde. For now, we have some important business to discuss."

"You're not even going to properly greet me? Where are your manners?" Nick said sarcastically.

"As I said, we have things to do, Wilde, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't continue to waste time. Of course, you could push me a little further and hear how parking duty for a month sounds to you both," Bogo said, raising his voice at the fox. Nick knew that he'd reached the limit, so he closed his muzzle and sat back in the chair.

"Despite the situation of today, I am going to be assigning you two to a case, a missing-mammal case, so you two should have no problem with it considering your previous displays of teamwork in a case of this caliber," Bogo said. Both Nick and Judy knew what he was talking about. Judy could feel the excitement growing deep within her. From the sound of things, this was a pretty big case, which Nick had not yet experienced as an officer.

Bogo reached down and opened a drawer at the bottom of his desk. He shuffled through the contents until he pulled out a red folder with a few pieces of paper visible from the outside. Judy figured it was the case file.

"This is everything we have so far. It isn't much, but you will have a few places to look for leads." Bogo said, passing the case file onto Nick who placed it in his lap and continued to have his full attention on Bogo. "That is all I have for you two. Dismissed." the buffalo said. Both Nick and Judy thanked Chief Bogo and then left his office, Nick still staring at the case file blankly.

"Aren't you excited, Nick? Our first big case!" Judy exclaimed while skipping down the hallway. Nick remained cool on the outside, though he did still feel a little bit excited. In his short time as an officer, he'd only ever worked on very small cases with Judy. It seemed to him that old buffalo-butt was finally warming up to him. Nick cracked a weak smile as she watched his over-energetic partner.

"It'll be a nice change of pace. I've actually been hoping to get something like this." Nick said in a less-than-enthusiastic tone. Judy noticed that he seemed a little under the weather. He seemed tenser and focussed. Judy stopped and looked curiously at the fox, specifically at the smile that was lazily appearing on his muzzle.

"Nick, are you alright? You don't seem to be all that excited."

"I'm good. Just a little tired is all." Nick replied. Judy walked closer to Nick who had stopped smiling and looked closely at his muzzle.

"Open up," she stated. Nick raised an eyebrow to his partner.

"Excuse me? What did you just say?"

"I said open up. Show me those pearly whites." Judy said, pulling Nick's muzzle lower so that it was level with her vision. Nick rolled his eyes as he opened his mouth to reveal his sharp and pointy fangs to Judy. She only had to search for a couple of seconds before she found what seemed so odd about Nick's smile.

"Nick, why are you missing a tooth?" Judy asked sternly. Nick grabbed her paw and began walking towards their office, dragging her along with him.

"I'll tell you while we walk. It's a fun story."

"So he actually had the audacity to assault you with two other mammals?" Judy asked in bewilderment as they entered their shared office space.

"Yep. He's going to be spending a while in a jail cell because of it. He's even facing up to ten years depending on how he pleas, of course." Nick said with a slightly less toothy grin.

"And he kept trying to dissuade you from being a cop?"

"Yeah, that was the strangest part about last night. He said 'the boss' wasn't going to take no for an answer, which tells me that he might have been either pressured or paid to do it. If I know Duke Weaselton, then it was definitely the latter. Whatever he was trying to do, I have a feeling we're done with it." Nick said while closing the door behind them. "Well, shall we take a look at this case file?" Nick held up the folder which contained all necessary information about the mammals in question. Nick wheeled two chairs up to the desk and Nick offered one to Judy as he sat down right next to him. With a smooth flick of the wrist, Nick uncovered the details to the case file.

"Looks like we have one, Damien Meyer, a black-furred mink of 27 years. He lives alone in a small home in Sahara Square and is employed by the Mojave Dunes branch of Bank of Zootopia. He was reported missing on Saturday, but he never showed up to work the previous day." Nick looked at Judy with concern. "Bit warm for a mink, don't ya think? Rhyme not intended." Nick said with a smirk.

"Oh, hush. Just keep reading." Judy said while lightly jabbing Nick in the side. Nick made sure to guard his ribs with his free paw from any more attacks from Judy.

"His boss went to his apartment, but found the door open slightly and according to his boss, it looked like the was a fight in the living room area." Nick set the file on the desk and slid it towards Judy so she could take a closer look. "How do you want to go about doing this, seeing that you've dealt with missing mammal cases before," Nick said. Judy continued checking out the case file.

"First off, I've only dealt with one case, but we definitely need to check out his house. Once we do that it would also be beneficial to see if we can get some more information about him from his boss. It says here that he has no known family living in the city."

Nick leaned back in his chair and smiled. His first big case was underway and he couldn't have a better partner to have help solve it.

"Sounds good. Let's get a car ready."


	3. Getting Stuff Done

The ZPD cruiser glided smoothly down the well-maintained roads of Sahara Square. Nick always liked the roads of Zootopia's warmest district. It always seemed like they were forever new, never showing the signs of wear that most roads had. This was in stark contrast to the infrastructure of Tundra Town, where the roads were covered in a minefield of potholes when not covered with snow or ice and making traveling on them difficult and rather dangerous.

As they drove down the relatively empty street, the heat in the air caused the road to appear wavy like water in a pond with a gentle breeze blowing on the surface. Nick's aviators shielded his eyes from the harsh sun that shone through the clear and cloudless sky. That, as well as the large heaters that kept the district's temperature at a scorching level, made air conditioning necessary for the fox. If there were two things that made him uncomfortable in his own fur, they were extreme heat and wet fur.

Nick turned the car onto a residential street, a few cars lining the sides. A yellow fire hydrant caught Nick's eyes as well as the fact that none of the cars were parked in the way. Nick cracked a minuscule grin as they drove by.

Townhomes and duplexes filled this residential area of the district. Small two and three bedroom places at an affordable cost made it perfect for a single mammal or a small family, as long as they could handle the heat. It was the middle of the day on a Monday and not a single mammal was outside doing anything. If Nick didn't know where he was, he would have thought the whole neighborhood was abandoned. Nick turned the corner into a small section of townhomes. Just a few spaces down Nick could see the yellow police tape that blocked off the door to Damien Meyer's home.

"Here we are," Nick said as he parked the car on the side of the street. Nick turned off the car which unfortunately took away his air conditioning. It was hot enough outside that only a few seconds were enough to warm up the inside of the car significantly. Not wanting to be in the car for much longer, Nick began gathering everything he would need in the event of finding evidence. Gloves, containers to put evidence in, forceps, and a magnifying glass was all included in that list. Nick reluctantly opened the door which blasted him with very hot air. Within moments of entering the open air, he felt the urge to start panting.

Judy was also out of the car, but she was not phased by the heat in the slightest.

"I don't understand how you're not dying from the heat like I am," Nick said while they walked side by side to the taped door.

"I have thinner fur than you. Simple as that, Slick." Judy replied.

"But I've been in my summer coat for like two months. This heat is ridiculous!" Nick remarked. He felt a sharp jab hit him right in the side as Judy elbowed him and he winced in pain.

"Suck it up, whiny. You sound like a four-year-old." Judy joked as they approached the door.

"Geez, police brutality, Carrots. Don't make me bring this up to Bogo." Nick replied sarcastically.

"Oh, hush. Let's just get to work. We've got a lot to do, and I still want to talk to Mr. Meyer's boss before the bank closes." Judy said. She opened the door to the house and then ducked under the tape. Nick did the same, but the tape was too low for him to just duck, so he got down on all fours and crawled under.

Nick was not paying any attention to what was in front of him, so he didn't see that Judy had stopped just a couple of feet inside the house. Right as Nick realized how close he was to Judy it was already too late and his face collided with her backside.

Nick felt all of the blood rush to his cheeks and ears and his heart rate increased dramatically. Nick scrambled to get to his feet and he tried to avoid the death stare that Judy was giving him. Nick looked out of the corner of his eyes and gave the furious bunny an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry…" Nick mumbled as he coughed into his paw. Just then, Judy's glare fell off and her ears fell behind her in embarrassment. She smiled as the blush became very noticeable on her cheeks. A paw went behind her head and began stroking her ears as she avoided eye contact with Nick.

"No… it's… you're fine." Judy mumbled. Nick's ears perked up in confusion as he wondered why she was the one acting so embarrassed now. He was thinking for a while before he realized just how long it had been since either of them had spoken. The awkwardness was killing him, so he coughed into his paw to break the silence.

"Well… I, uh… guess we should get to work."

"Yeah..." Judy said, rushing her response as she walked into the living room. Nick followed her into the living room which was where he knew that something had gone down just before Meyer went missing.

The sight before Nick's eyes was just as he expected. The glass coffee table in the center of the room was smashed into hundreds if not thousands of pieces leaving only the metal frame which once held the glass platform. Nick noticed that some of the shards were large enough to be used as a weapon against someone. There was a bookshelf which had seen much better days, having one shelf broke in half and another shelf on the other side of the room and several items, mainly books and other collectibles, once on them scattered all over the floor. Judy carefully made her way over to the glass where something caught her eye.

Judy knelt down and using her forceps, picked up a rather large shard of glass that had a hardened red liquid on the edge.

"Blood," Judy said while showing Nick. He nodded and went back to observing the bookshelf. Judy bagged the evidence and then continued searching the glass shards for more blood.

Nick thoroughly searched the bookshelf. He looked over every single shelf hoping to find something worthwhile. By the time he was nearly done, all he'd found was that Meyer really liked classic authors. Nick looked at the cracked and broken shelf specifically at the breaking point. He noticed some small white strands that were in the crack. Nick brought his magnifying glass to the strands and deduced what they were.

White fur.

"Our mink has black fur, correct?" Nick asked out loud.

"Yep, you got something?" Judy said while turning her attention to Nick.

"White furs. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Nick said while putting

"If you're thinking that he was kidnapped, you'd be right. Hopefully, forensics can get an analysis done on this evidence quickly. I can only hope that our guy is alright if abduction is the case." Judy said.

"I can't see any other possibility. Something clearly went down, and all I can think of is a fight between Meyer and whoever took him," Nick said while looking over the living room one more time. "Do we need to find anything else? It seems to me that we have sufficient findings."

"I think we're good here. That didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would," Judy said. "Don't think that every investigation goes this smoothly, either. We got very lucky that we found what we did. But now, let's get this stored, go to Meyer's bank and talk to his boss quickly. After that, we can go back to the precinct and give our findings to Martin from forensics, report our day to Bogo as he will want to know what we did, then do more paperwork which is basically a more detailed version of what we will tell Bogo." At the mention of paperwork, Nick's good attitude went away and he suddenly felt bitter.

"Wonderful. Just what I wanted to do today." Nick complained.

"Oh, it's not that bad. All you need to do is write a small report about what we did. Trust me, it won't take very long."

"Alright, well let's get going."

"Yep."

The two officers left the house as is. Nick decided that it would be best if he exited the house first. He crawled underneath the tape, his tail brushing the tape as he moved under it. Nick got back on his feet and turned around to wait for Judy. She ducked under the tape and gave him a look the whole time. Nick tugged at the collar of his shirt in discomfort. He wasn't sure if it was Judy or the heat of the air which caused it. After a moment of thought, he concluded that it was both.

Nick followed Judy to the car and he kept eyeing her form in front of him. He could tell by the way she was hurrying to the car that she was being bothered by the situation from earlier.

"Listen, Judy. About earlier," Nick began, his right paw habitually rubbing the back of his neck. "I wanted to apologize for that whole… ordeal."

"It's fine. We all make mistakes. You're tired and seem a bit distracted, so there's nothing to worry about." Judy replied.

"Yeah, but it was really unprofessional… and painfully awkward." Nick said mumbling the last part.

"Since when did you care about professionalism?" Judy joked.

"I'll have you know that I always take the time in the morning to look like a very professional mammal. Appearance is very important for professionalism." Nick responded.

"It doesn't look like it today. You might want to check out your crazy bed-head." Judy giggled as she entered the car. Nick looked at himself in the side mirror and saw the fur on his head sticking in all sorts of directions. Nick licked his paw to try and smooth down the furs, but they were insistent on staying where they were. Nick frowned as he got in the car, but then a sly grin showed itself as he thought of something regarding their brief moment of contact.

"You liked it, didn't you?" Nick said, grinning from ear to ear and facing forward.

"Excuse me?!" Judy exclaimed.

"You heard me," Nick said, barely able to suppress giggles. He began driving away from the house and onto the bank.

"Nicholas Wilde, you dirty fox! I can't believe you just said that!" Judy said, completely flabbergasted. There was a moment of silence between the two of them, but Nick wasn't done having his fun yet.

"I think that answers my question."

"Ok! That's it, I'm done talking to you!" Judy huffed as she crossed her arms and looked out the window.

"Oh. C'mon. Don't be like that. You know I'm just messing with you. I had the perfect opportunity and I wasn't about to waste it." Nick said, taking his eyes off the road for a second to look at Judy who moved closer to the window. "C'mon, you know you love me," he said teasingly. Nick could see the slightest hint of a smile appear on her muzzle.

"Do I know that? Yes, yes I do," Judy said. She kept looking out the window, which brought something important to her attention. "I think there's something you don't know, Nick."

"What's that?"

"You're going the wrong way. The bank is behind us." Judy said. Nick sighed as he looked for a place to turn the car around. While Judy laughed at Nick for being such an idiot, she couldn't forget what she felt when Nick bumped into her.

What is wrong with me?

Nick tried to blame his poor sense of direction on his lack of sleep, but Judy knew that was just an excuse, and the fox knew that after he was on the receiving end of a good-natured bunny fist to the arm.

Seriously, Carrots. I am the one driving right now. I would think you'd know better than to attack me." Nick defended.

"Well, maybe if you paid more attention I wouldn't need to do that. It's the only way I'm able to keep you in line, and it's still not enough!" Judy joked.

"I am a rascal, just a no good troublemaker."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way. Can you imagine how boring your life would be if you always followed the rules?"

"I honestly wouldn't be able to live with myself," Nick said, pretending to shudder in fear. The car continued down the street just as smoothly as before. The bank where Meyer worked was only a short distance from where he lived, so in only about ten minutes they were arriving at the bank.

"We're here. Let's hope we can get something out of this." Nick said cheerfully as he exited the vehicle. The two officers walked together inside of the sandstone building and observed the quietness with curiosity. The mid-afternoon created a nearly dead atmosphere apart from the coyote typing on his computer and the jackal tending to an elderly armadillo. Nick and Judy walked up to the counter where the coyote greeted them with a kind smile.

"Good afternoon, officers. How can I help you?" he said.

"Hello, I'm Officer Judy Hopps," Judy said while gesturing to herself, and then to Nick. "And this is Officer Nick Wilde. We understand that Damien Meyer works here, and we would like to have a word with the manager on staff." Judy concluded.

"Excellent. That would be me by the way." The coyote extended a paw over the counter. "R.J. Coyma, at your service," he said with great gusto. Both Nick and Judy gladly shook his paw firmly. "Let me take you into the back where we can talk a bit more privately. Just follow me." The coyote led them back into the bank and to a room which bore his name on the door. He offered them chairs and they sat down in front of his desk, which was bare except for the brass nameplate at the front and a couple of containers filled with pens and pencils.

"So, what do you need to know?" he asked politely.

"We can use just about anything you have on him. Personality, any background is good as we have very little, and anything regarding previous employment." Judy said while holding a notepad and her trusty carrot pen.

"Well, he's a pretty new hire, only been here for about a month and a half. When he first started here he seemed to be a bit skittish, almost like he thought someone was coming after him." Nick and Judy exchanged nervous glances at each other. "After about a month he started to cool down a lot and proved to be a really hard worker and became quite good at his job," R.J. said.

"Ok, anything else you'd like to tell us regarding Mr. Meyer?" The coyote thought for a moment before something came to mind.

"Oh! He actually moved not long after he started working here. And I recall from our interview that he used to have a brownish-grey coat instead of black. I never understood the point of dying one's fur." he said quizzically.

"I couldn't agree with you more, sir," Judy said. "And this is excellent information by the way. Ok, now can you tell us exactly what you saw when you entered the house?"

"Well, I suppose it was about one in the afternoon when I decided to check on him. I certainly didn't expect to get into his house, and I wasn't sure what I would see there, but I wasn't expecting the bookshelf to be smashed to bits as well as the table in the living room." Judy finished writing down the description of the scene and looked up to the coyote.

"Ok, we just need one more thing from you. Do you know of any previous employment from his interview?"

"If I recall, he only had one other place down, and that was just a fast food joint on the other side of town." the coyote said.

"Perfect. That's all we will need from you, but before we leave, is there anything else that you can tell us?" Judy asked.

"Honest to God, that's about all that I know about him. And good luck with the investigation. I'd really like to get him back, he's a good kid." R.J. said with a warm smile.

"We will do whatever it takes to make sure he is found safe and sound, sir," Nick added.

"Oh, here! Let me show you the way out." R.J. said. Nick and Judy followed the coyote out to the lobby of the bank where only a single mammal was at the counter being helped by the jackal. They thanked him once more for his time and then began the journey back to the precinct.

He hated everything about this. The sunlight was way too intense for him to even be out in it for more than a few minutes without proper covering. That was why the black hoodie, pants, and sunglasses donned his form in the middle of summer in Sahara Square and inside a building. Even the lights in the bank that he'd just entered were too bright for him to go without something shielding his eyes. He much preferred the darkness, but light was impossible to avoid. It was just his weekly trip to the bank to make a typical deposit of around one hundred and fifty dollars.

The place was dead, just like how he felt inside. He'd died long ago when he left his normal life of living on the street to having an empire in the drug trade. It wasn't something that he was necessarily proud of, but it certainly paid the bills. He remembered a time when he actually cared about the law, a time when he feared the authorities. Back then he didn't want to go to jail. Now he really couldn't care less if they caught him or not; his life was worthless and he knew it. But love his life, he did. For so long he had dealt with mammals trampling over him, but now it was his turn to be the one to control them. But some of those mammals didn't like to listen.

He was always an advocate for peace. He hated to get his paws dirty and would do whatever he could to avoid it. He didn't like killing, and it wasn't something that he did often; only a few times, and it was never his own paws that did it. That's what the empire was for. Most of his encounters with clients of his were smooth. A little intimidation here and then the money just magically appeared from out of nowhere when it wasn't in possession just a few seconds ago. But some of them were a little too persistent on staying away from him.

And then he's forced to take them and make them pay for it in another way. When cash wasn't available, he had another accepted form of payment.

Screams. And preferably ones of extreme pain. The louder the better; the higher pitched the more pleasurable.

He set the cash on the counter and the jackal did his thing in getting the money into his account. He looked around and saw two police officers come into the lobby through the back with a coyote. He chuckled as he realized the reason they were there. Those two boneheads were completely clueless that they were standing in the same room as the one who captured their missing mink. And then he took a closer look at the larger one; the fox.

Nicholas Wilde, we never thought you'd be the one to take the case. This makes things a lot more interesting…

He also took note of the rabbit next to him. He could tell that they shared a special connection instantly; it was one of his better attributes. He knew what everyone else was thinking and feeling, sometimes even before they did. That bunny was disgusting, repulsive, a complete freak for hanging around that sorry excuse for a mammal. But her foolishness would be her ultimate downfall, and hopefully his as well. After what he did to him and his own personal life; ruining everything that he had going for him, he most certainly deserved a bit of payback.

You, sir, are about to learn what revenge is all about.


	4. Mammal of Interest

Nick was about ready to smash his computer screen with his fist. He had taken Judy's warning about the paperwork with a grain of salt, but now he seemed to have been buried in a mountain of salt, or rather paperwork. And he had a lot of papercuts. Their day had only consisted of a couple of tasks, but there was still so much that needed to be done. And it all was the most boring part of being a police officer.

Desk duty could be a nice break when you really needed it, but nobody really wants to do hours and hours of paperwork that is detailing basically everything they did that day… with explicit detail. Emphasis on the explicit and the detail.

They had gotten back to the precinct at about six o'clock and then handed their evidence over to Martin Pahyne from forensics, who would take it back to the lab for analysis. He said it would take probably 48 hours at the most for it to be finished, but it could be sooner. Nick sure hoped that it would be sooner especially since they had no other leads to go with. They didn't have much to work with at all, but Judy assured Nick that they weren't out of options yet. He wasn't sure what they would do if the evidence turned up to be nothing useful, but he trusted Judy that they had plenty to do.

After handing off the evidence, they gave Bogo a verbal report of their findings and what they did that day. It was a fairly mundane task and was very easy to do. Bogo just listened while they spoke, and the only time he really spoke up was when they mentioned it was likely that he was abducted. Bogo agreed with them, but he said they needed more evidence if they wanted to be certain on that theory.

After that, they began working on the concrete copy of the report they gave to Bogo, which took them to now, finally getting to leave for the night.

Nick had just logged off of his work computer and was shutting down for the night, his computer screen turning to a pitch black and the whirr of the cooling fan becoming absolute silence. The only other noise in the room was the rapid patter of Judy's right foot hitting the floor. Nick took notice of her impatience and decided to play a fun little game.

He liked to see just how annoyed he could make her, typically without doing anything embarrassing for either of the two. Usually, his Flash impression was enough to do that.

Nick turned around as slowly as he could and even going to the lengths to blink in a sluggish manner. He nearly broke character as he saw the look of utter rage growing on Judy's face and almost started laughing. Nick still tried to take it a step further.

"Are… you… ready… to…"

Judy was about ready to pummel Nick's muzzle in with her tiny fists.

"Go…"

"Yes! I'm ready to go, can you please just stop it with the Flash impression already?! You're too good at it!"

Nick decided that he'd had enough fun annoying his favorite bunny so he went back to normal Nick speed, which still wasn't fast enough for Judy when she was in a hurry. Nick still didn't know why she was in such a hurry. It wasn't all that late and she really didn't have anything to do. He knew just as well as she did that her apartment required the least amount of effort to maintain and keep clean.

"Ok, I'll stop. And thank you for that compliment. It took years of honing my skills to become an expert Flash impressionist, so getting some recognition is always appreciated." Nick said, adding a smug grin for effect.

"Ok then," Judy said, rolling her eyes as she turned towards the door. The fox and the rabbit walked out of the office space that they shared and made their way out of the ZPD for the day. Nick loved his job, but there really was only so long he could stand being in that building before he started to go a little bit crazy. Desk duty was pretty much a death sentence for Nick, and it was even worse for someone who could barely sit still like Judy.

Nick loved this time of year. He was able to walk outside and have the air be nice and warm, but not unbearably hot like Sahara Square. Everything was nice in the city center with it being the middle of summer. The trees were nice and green, what little grass existed in downtown Zootopia was just as much so, and everyone just seemed to be having a good day. He was especially fond of this time of day when the sun was just barely creeping below the horizon and the air was a little cooler than in midday. Tonight was nearly perfect with a gentle breeze and a beautiful cloudless sky starting to become stained with hues of orange, yellow, and pink from the setting sun. It was nearly perfect.

Nick had his mind pretty well set on his tasks for the day, but that dream he had the previous night kept popping back into his head. He shouldn't have been able to remember everything, but it was still fresh in his mind twelve hours later. And that feeling of emptiness and horror hadn't subsided either; it still felt all too real. He didn't know if it was some sort of warning or just a dream, but he knew that it would be best to trust his gut feeling and do something about it instead of just blow it off like it was nothing.

Nick had gotten a new apartment just a short time after becoming a police officer and he'd coincidentally gotten one just a few blocks from Judy's, albeit a much larger one. He also passed by her apartment on the way to his, so they would always walk together until they made it to Judy's. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but all he wanted was to know that she had made it up to her apartment ok.

The entrance to the building came in sight and Nick started to grow a bit nervous. What if she thinks I'm doing something different? Nick thought. He really didn't want her thinking that he was trying to put the moves on her. That wasn't something Nick wanted to deal with.

Either way, they proceeded uninterrupted. Nick kept stealing glances at the bunny by his side as if he was making sure she hadn't run off since the last time he looked at her three seconds ago. Eventually, Judy noticed him and she caught him in dead eye-contact. They stopped right at the entrance to her apartment building.

"What?"

"What? I didn't say anything,"

"You keep looking at me. Is something wrong? Do I have green stuff in my teeth?" Nick habitually pulled at the collar of his shirt. It was something that he'd only recently began doing, a sign that his hustling days were definitely over and he would never return. He'd taught himself to never do anything to give away nervousness or fear, but he was doing just that now.

"Oh, God... I do have green stuff in my teeth, don't I?" Judy said as she began trying to remove the non-existent debris in between her teeth.

"No, everything's fine. Am I offending you by looking at the mammal I spend the majority of my time with?" he said sarcastically.

Judy may have been a country bunny, but that didn't mean she was completely oblivious to what others were thinking.

"Nick, you may have been a top notch hustler a year ago, but you're not anymore. I can tell when you're lying, so please tell me what's wrong." Nick was going to try and avoid telling her about the dream.

"Like I said, everything's just fine."

"Nick."

He sighed. He really didn't want to tell Judy about his dream last night. He thought it was crazy himself. He had no idea what she would think of it. But then again, there really was no harm in doing that. Nick rubbed his brow in agitation as he mustered the strength to tell her.

"Ok, this is going to sound completely insane, but please just bear with me," Judy gave Nick a look and she crossed her arms as if telling Nick to continue. "I had a dream last night where I… I lost you," Judy's glare turned into something more akin to surprise. "I woke up and it honestly felt real. I felt alone and lost, and I didn't want to feel like that ever again. So I just want to make sure you make it to your apartment alright. I'll feel better that way."

Judy started giggling a little, then her giggles escalated into full-bellied laughter.

"Oh, that is the cutest thing I've ever heard!" she exclaimed. Nick frowned in disappointment. He'd been completely honest with her as to what he was feeling, and she was just laughing it off like it was nothing. Before Nick was able to protest her distasteful reaction, she continued and grabbed both of his paws and held them in her own. "I appreciate the concern, Nick. I really do. But you don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself and I'm sure this little dream of yours was just that... a dream. It's great that you care, but I think you're blowing things a little out of proportion."

Nick felt a little bit of pain in his heart because of Judy's reaction. While he did think it was far-fetched, he wasn't one to be careless with things he was worried about.

"Ouch, that hurt, Carrots. And I thought you didn't like the "c" word."

"That's only when other mammals besides bunnies say it. I can say it all I want."

"Alright, can I at least see you to your door, please?" Judy let go of his paws and pushed him playfully in the stomach, which nearly knocked the wind out of him. He made a mental note to remind her that she didn't know her own strength.

"Of course. Did you think I would say no, ya dumb fox!"

Nick gave Judy a nervous smile as they walked side by side up to her apartment which was located on the second floor. Nick's senses were on high alert as they walked up the stairs trying to find anything that could pose a threat to his partner. It was probably overkill, but Nick didn't think there was anything wrong with being too cautious. After the ascent of the few flights of stairs, they had made it to Judy's door and Nick was finally relieved of all of his worries. Judy opened her door and then turned around in the doorway, leaning her body against the frame.

"Nick," Judy said while looking at the floor.

"Yes?"

"I'll see you tomorrow. We've got a big day ahead of us."

"Of course. Nothing I love more than mounds of paperwork." Judy was shaking her head and giggling at Nick's passive-aggressive nature.

"Goodnight, Nick."

"Goodnight, Judy." The rabbit was just about to shut the door when Nick's paw grabbed the edge and prevented her from closing it. "Oh, Judy," She poked her head outside her apartment.

"What?"

"Make sure you lock your door." Nick let go of the door and began backing up from the entrance into her small room.

"I know, Nick. Goodnight." She smiled and shut the door and Nick waited only a couple of seconds before he heard the deadbolt click into place. Feeling as though he had done all that he could have reasonably done to quell the strange feelings he had, Nick walked back down the stairs and back out into the gradually cooling air of the evening.

The rest of his walk to his apartment was just as uneventful as usual. He saw no other mammals walking on the sidewalks. He'd barely even seen a car drive past him. It was as if the entire city had already gone to sleep and he was the only one still awake.

He knew that he wouldn't be like that for long. The day had been quite eventful and his unfortunate lack of sleep was making his bed seem like the Gates of Heaven. His weary legs carried him through his apartment building and to his room. He swung the door open to reveal a dark yet welcoming home. His place wasn't much, but it was sure better than the place he had before and Judy's. He barely spent any time here anyways, so he really didn't care that his dwelling place was one of a very modest budget.

He didn't bother turning any lights on; he didn't need them. It only took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and his night-vision made everything clearly visible so he didn't do anything clumsy like stub a toe on the corner of the wall.

Nick entered his bedroom and lazily began stripping himself of his clothing. Throughout the day, Nick had grown quite uncomfortable in his unclean fur. He had the curse of not being able to go more than a day without a shower like some mammals did. He was sure that his extra scent-blocker had worn off by noon and he was smelling extra "raw," but he had no way of telling a the moment, nor did he care. He only had one thing on his mind right now: Sleep.

Now only in his boxers, Nick laid down on his bed and rested his head on the pillow. He turned to the left where the top of his nightstand was barely visible. On top of it were his alarm clock and a small picture frame. He reached over and quickly set his alarm so that way he would hopefully wake up on time. He reached a little further and grabbed the picture and stared at it.

His first day on the force. It was a fond memory. It was the first time in forever that he'd actually felt proud about something he'd done. He made something of himself, but he didn't have anyone to share that moment with. He wished his parents could have been there to see him. They always told him he'd make something of himself, do good for the city, be a mammal worth talking about. They would have been the only ones he would have cared to see there that day, but they couldn't. Some part of him was glad that they couldn't be there, but that was probably just his old self trying to pry it's way back to the surface.

He was able to share that day with Judy. She was really his only true friend at that time. Finnick had pretty much ignored every call he'd given him and the only time he answered was to tell him to stop calling him. Nick knew that he would turn around, and he finally had the night before.

It wasn't a professional photo. He had taken it on his phone after the ceremony. They both looked so proud in the photo. It was a proud day for the two of them, and he was happy that life had led him to that moment, and ultimately to now.

He set the picture back on the nightstand and then stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before his eyelids felt like cinderblocks. It was early, but he welcomed the sleep. His tired body was going to need it if he wanted to be able to keep up with Judy for however long they were working on this case.

Within a few minutes of closing his eyes, Nick was snoring and getting some of the best sleep in his life.

Judy was leaning against her door with her paws placed against it. Her breaths were deep and rapid and her heart rate was slowly decreasing from the massive increase that she got right after Nick left. Her whole body was shaking as she lifted herself off of the door and slowly made her way to her bed. She wasn't tired at all. The day had provided enough activity to keep her body functioning at near peak efficiency the majority of the day, but she knew that she'd be fast asleep within the hour.

Judy sat on her bed and rested her elbows on her knees and planted her face in her paws. She wasn't sure exactly what to think of the last ten minutes. Nick had been acting strange all day, but he couldn't have been like that because of a stupid dream. It was completely ridiculous! Judy still wished that she hadn't laughed at him like that. She knew that when Nick was acting serious, he meant business and wasn't going to be playing around like he did so much.

A part of her thought he was overreacting, but a greater majority wasn't so sure. She had known Nick for nearly two years and had spent much of that time working with him. She knew what he was like when he was actually worried. She thought she saw that tonight, but something seemed off. It was almost like he was scared like he didn't want to tell her what he was thinking for fear of it hurting her or making her worried as well.

And then it occurred to her: Was that the real reason he wanted to see me to my apartment today? She tried to get those thoughts out of her mind. There was no way she was going to start thinking about Nick that way. She couldn't do that to him or to herself. There wasn't a chance in hell that they would be able to be together and not get chastized to no end.

But then again, wouldn't being with Nick be enough of a reward to deal with all of the mammals that didn't like their hypothetical relationship?

"No! No! No! I can't keep doing this!"

Judy stood up and turned around, knelt down by her bed and began slamming her face into the mattress repeatedly. Her mind was going crazy with thoughts about what would happen if they did start da… dat…

She couldn't even bring herself to say it. She wished society would be more understanding of predator-prey relationships, but with the city still not fully recovered from the Nighthowler case, despite that happening over a year ago, she didn't want to put herself through that kind of hell. And even more importantly, she didn't want to do the same to Nick.

"Hey bunny, can you keep it down over there?"

Judy sighed as she prepared herself to sleep. She figured she should at least start trying, otherwise, she might be up all night thinking.

"Hey, what happened to your friend, did he leave?"

"Yes, he left, Bucky."

"When's he coming back?"

"He went home. He's not coming back." Judy heard nothing for the next few moments, so she laid her head back down onto the pillow and closed her eyes.

"Don't get too upset since he doesn't love you back."

Judy's eyes shot open and she quickly sat up in bed.

"I DON'T LOVE HIM LIKE THAT!"

Judy laid back down and closed her eyes as tightly as possible.

"Ok. Goodnight bunny."

Judy did not say anything back to hopefully get them to stop. After hearing nothing from her obnoxious neighbors for about five minutes, she relaxed and got more comfortable as she slowly drifted off to sleep much faster than she thought.

But then a noise woke her back up. It was subtle but just enough to get her attention. Judy had already been asleep for a few hours. Her clock said it was nearly two in the morning.

She would have gone back to sleep, but something didn't quite feel right. She felt something different about when she went to sleep like she wasn't alone anymore.

Judy got out of bed and quietly walked over to her desk where her fox repellant had sat for the last several months. Nick didn't really mind that she kept it after she told him that it was just pepper spray… very specist pepper spray.

She kept an eye and an ear out for anything to catch her attention while she walked over to the light switch. Just as she was about there, a noise from under her bed caused her to stop in her tracks. She looked towards her bed just in time for something to prick her neck. She swatted at her neck, thinking that a mosquito possibly got in from her open window.

Wait a minute, I never left the window open… Judy thought.

Then she realized that it wasn't a mosquito that bit her neck, but a tranquilizer dart. Before she could scream to alert her neighbors or anyone else in the building, she lost all control of her body and fell to the floor, fox-repellant tumbling to the foot of her bed. She tried crawling to her nightstand to grab her phone, but she had no strength left in her. Whatever tranquilizer was used against her was very fast acting and her vision was already starting to fade. She almost felt like she was floating in mid-air. It was then that a white furred individual crawled out from under her bed in fluid-like motions and completely silently. A pair of glowing red eyes stared back at her with tranq gun in paw as well as an envelope. Whoever was in her apartment was definitely an expert at staying hidden. Even with her superior hearing, she couldn't tell that this kidnapper was under her bed.

She cursed her neighbors for being such heavy sleepers as they would likely be deterrent for this criminal. But there wasn't a sound coming from the figure at all. It walked towards Judy, kicking aside the fox repellent and kneeling down right in front of Judy. His paw caressed her cheek and then moved down to her chin, where only a single finger rested at the tip of her chin.

"You are coming with us, m'lady." Judy tried to move, but she was completely paralyzed and unable to do so. She could now tell that the figure in front of her was a male weasel. He snickered as he stood up and placed the envelope on the desk.

"What's the matter? Your fox not here to save you? We didn't think he would be, and it's not like he ever will."

And then everything went black.


	5. Fast Pace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all the farther I am on FFN, but you'll still get a chapter tomorrow morning since it's Saturday. From now on it'll be Saturdays at 6 A.M. just like on FFN. Enjoy!

Just about every day since he'd began his changed life as a police officer, Nick woke up to the sound of his alarm wanting to destroy the noisy device. One would say he is not a morning mammal, and on any ordinary day, they'd be right. But today was not ordinary. Nick knew that as soon as he woke up, a whole minute before his alarm went off. Usually, when he woke up before his alarm it was hours before he had to actually get up and he never felt fully rested. But he felt like he'd just gotten the best sleep of his life.

Nick didn't even bother waiting until his alarm went off. He just turned off the alarm and got up, stretching his back until he heard several satisfying pops and cracks and doing the same with his neck. Nick took in a hefty breath of fresh morning air first through his mouth, and then through his nose. Unfortunately for Nick, the "24-hour protection" that his scent-blocker claimed to offer had worn out and his natural musk was crowding his olfactory system and beating his nose to death. He knew immediately what he had to do.

Shower time.

Nick had never been so ready to get into the shower in his life. He walked into the bathroom in his boxers while whistling a song that only he knew the tune of and got the water flowing through the shower head. He waited until the water was nice and steamy before he slid off his last remaining article of clothing and stood under the hot embrace of the water.

For a few minutes, Nick just let the water soak him to the bone. After getting thoroughly wet he lathered himself up with his choice shampoo, one which made his fur feel good and mask his typically very prominent natural musk with something much more pleasing to the senses. He rinsed himself off and even went so far as to stand in the water for a few extra minutes. Before he made himself late again, Nick turned off the water and stepped onto the small towel right next to the tub of the shower. He snatched a towel of the extra-absorbent variety, designed for mammals like himself with very thick coats of fur and dried himself off.

Nick wiped the condensation off of the mirror with his towel and he gave himself a quick brushing before he put on his uniform. He gave his reflection finger-guns before walking back into his bedroom where the air was much colder and his naked form was soon on the brink of shivering. He quickly threw on his uniform, but still taking care to look good because he had the time this morning. And Nick didn't know what he'd do with himself if he didn't always look his sharpest.

With uniform on and another check in the mirror to make sure he was "lookin' fine," Nick walked out the door and out into the city.

If the morning wasn't already one of the best he'd had in years, stepping outside sure confirmed that; maybe it was the best. The sun was shining brightly, though it was hidden behind some buildings which prevented it from shining directly in Nick's eyes. The air was at a perfect temperature and there was a gentle breeze that cooled things down ever so slightly, but it felt amazing. The sky was a beautiful blue in color and there was hardly a cloud to ruin it. The only clouds were light and wispy ones high up in the sky.

Nick walked along the sidewalk and waved to citizens as he passed by them, more often than not smiling with pure joy and happiness for the wonderful day he'd stumbled upon. Nick knew that his joy would not last long, as the weather-mammal had forecasted 90's for the entire week. He was sure glad that his office was at least air-conditioned.

As he passed by Judy's apartment, he considered, for just a moment, going up there to surprise her, but he decided against it. It was Judy, after all. She had probably already made it to the precinct by now. Nick looked away from her apartment and continued down the sidewalk.

For a moment Nick stopped after he thought this might be a dream and he was currently sleeping through his alarm. He quickly and discretely extended one set of claws and slowly applied pressure to his other arm. Right as the claw was about to break his skin, Nick felt a sharp pain and removed his claw. He retracted his claws and concluded that he, in fact, wasn't dreaming.

That fact alone caused him to have even more spring in his step.

Nick joyously walked all the way to the precinct and hummed to himself his own version of "Try Everything." He skipped over to the entrance to the station with a massive grin on his face. After having a morning commute like that, he knew that today was going to be great. A blast of cool air hit Nick when he walked through the doors to the station and he was welcomed by the hustle and bustle of the lobby. He ignored it and headed right to Clawhauser's desk, where he was sure the cheetah would be happy to see Nick in such a good mood.

Ben was immersed in his cell phone and didn't notice Nick approach his desk. When he came running up towards the cheetah, he looked up momentarily and then nearly jumped out of his chair when he saw Nick heading right for him.

"How are we doing today, Benji?!" Nick exclaimed. Ben looked slightly confused for a second but then smiled back at Nick.

"So far so good. What's got you in such a good mood?"

"I don't know, today has just been wonderful so far. Do you ever have those days where everything has gone right for you and now nothing can get you down?"

"Yeah, and I'm assuming that has happened to you?" Nick nodded as he spun around to look out to the lobby.

"Exactly!" Nick quickly spun back around and faced Ben again, resting his elbows on the desktop. "You haven't seen Hopps around, have you?" Nick asked. Ben shook his head.

"I haven't. I'm sure she'll be here any minute. It's not like her to be late."

"I know, tell me about it. Y'know I was lucky to not get too much of a lecture from her yesterday because I was late. I wasn't even that late, it was only a few minutes!" Nick shrugged.

"Well, she's been like that ever since she started. Always doing everything right, not that it's a bad thing, of course. Ya know, you're actually lucky to be able to have her as a partner." Clawhauser said. Nick looked curiously at him.

"How so?"

"Well, after the Nighthowler case, everyone wanted to be her partner. She'd proven she was a fantastic cop, even if she'd only been with the ZPD for a few days at that point. But she denied them all," Ben pointed at Nick with one of his pudgy fingers. "She said she was waiting until you graduated from the academy so that you two could be partners. There's something about you that she must have really liked. And I'll be honest, I think she might be rubbing off on you a little bit." Nick scoffed at Clawhauser's bizarre prospect.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, from what she said about you from before you became an officer, you aren't the kind to be all happy-go-lucky like this. I think she's a good influence on you, Nick. I'd like to see you like this more often." Nick really didn't know what to say. That conversation had taken quite the turn and Nick's grin was now a straight face as he processed the information that he'd just been given.

"Well, I'll try buddy. Have a good day, and keep a lookout on Hopps for me, will ya?" Nick said as he walked away from Clawhauser's desk.

"I'll let you know if I see her. Have a great day, Nick!" he returned with a wave. Nick smiled as he walked towards his office to begin the day, with or without Judy. He figured that if she was a little late it wouldn't be that big of a deal. He knew that he needed to finish his paperwork from last night, and that would probably take him about an hour and a half. He wanted to get as much of a head start on that as possible.

Nick took a quick detour to the employee lounge where he grabbed a styrofoam cup and filled it with coffee. He wasn't tired, but he was feeling like something to drink, and he actually liked the coffee provided by the ZPD despite what others thought of its quality.

Nick opened the door to the office and flicked on the lights, seeing the room just how he'd left it last night. Nick turned on his computer and waited for a few moments for it to load to his login screen. While he waited, he figured he'd turn on Judy's computer so that she could get logged in right away when she arrived.

Nick's computer was up and running, so he logged in and instantly got to work on his paperwork. He delicately sipped his coffee as he leaned back in his chair. Nick set the cup down on his desk and began typing.

"Done…" Nick said to himself. He'd been going non-stop on his paperwork ever since he'd gotten logged onto his computer. His coffee was long gone and Judy's computer still remained empty and ready to be logged onto. Halfway through his paperwork, Nick started to get worried about her, but he remained focused on finishing his work. Now that he was finished, he pulled out his phone and dialed Judy's number.

It rang… and rang… and rang…

"This is Judy Hopps. I'm not here at the moment. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!"

Nick waited for the beep.

*Beep*

"Hey, Hopps. It's Nick. I'm wondering if you remembered you have work today. It's only Tuesday, so it's not the weekend yet. I've just finished with paperwork from yesterday so I would like some input on what to do next. Get back to me, please."

Nick lowered the phone from his ear and sighed. He hadn't intended that last part to sound so desperate. He was getting to that point, though. Nick hadn't heard anything from Clawhauser, so he knew that she still hadn't arrived yet. Nick leaned over to his left shoulder to speak into his radio.

"Chief, any word on Hopps yet?"

He waited a moment before Bogo responded.

"Nothing yet, Wilde. It would be a good idea to go check on her, just to make sure she's ok. It's not like her to just not show up like this without proper warning."

"Understood, Chief. I'll get on that." Nick responded. Nick got out of his chair and walked out of the office. He'd only been made more worried now that Bogo was telling him to go check on her. That only told him that something bad happened to her. He hoped she was alright. There was always the possibility that she hurt herself and wasn't able to reach her phone. She could have tripped going down the stairs or maybe even fallen in the toilet… again. Nick chuckled when he remembered how she told him about that incident at the academy. That would be quite the sight to find when he arrived at her place, but that would also mean he'd have to pull her out and there were only communal restrooms in her apartment.

He really hoped that wasn't the case.

Nick got to the car and unlocked it, then got inside and wasted no time in taking off towards Judy's apartment. As he drove he continued to think about the various situations that she could have gotten herself into. Nothing really made sense other than she simply overslept. Nick really couldn't think of anything else. He knew that once he got there and found her sleeping she would be pretty mad and probably embarrassed. He was going to have some fun with that.

The drive was pretty short to Judy's apartment, only about five minutes from the precinct. It was the reason that neither of them ever considered buying a car. They both lived so close to work, Nick only being a little farther away, that it would be completely pointless. When Nick arrived at her place, he pulled the car off to the side of the street and turned off the engine. He didn't think he'd be there very long, but he wasn't going to leave it running.

Nick got out of the car and headed straight to Judy's apartment. He walked up a couple of flights of stairs and felt a bit of deja vu from last night. He didn't go to Judy's apartment all that often, but she had actually given him a key quite a while ago after he was locked out and needed to get his wallet that he'd left there the day before. She hadn't been home since early in the morning and wouldn't get back until later that night. She gave him her spare key because she didn't want to deal with another situation like that.

Nick pulled his keys out of his pocket and found the small brass key that unlocked Judy's door. Before he unlocked the door, he politely knocked.

"Carrots? You awake in there?"

Nick kept his ear held up to the door for a moment, but he heard nothing, not even a stir from the rabbit. If she was still asleep, she wasn't going to be woken up by simply talking to her through the door. Nick twisted the key and opened the door slowly.

"I'm coming in," he announced. But Nick soon learned that he was talking to himself. He thought he saw her still lying in bed, but it was just one of her many plushie bunnies that she kept on her bed. Nick was thoroughly confused by his findings. He could see that the single window was left open and he saw something intriguing on her desk across the room. As he walked from the bed to the desk, he accidentally kicked a small can of fox repellent across the floor.

That's weird... Nick thought. Nick approached the desk and found one thing that seemed out of place. There was a small white envelope sitting right on the edge. On its face were the words, "To whom it may concern," were written quite sloppily in red ink. It didn't seem like Judy's writing. Her's was neat, much unlike this letter. But it seemed to be addressing someone who happened to come into Judy's room. He picked the envelope up.

Nick's claw extended to quickly open the envelope and then it retracted back into the sheath of his fingertip. From inside the envelope, he pulled a single sheet of lined notebook paper which had a short note scribbled on it in the same red ink.

"We have the rabbit and the mink. Either Officer Wilde publicly announces his resignation or both of them will be no more. You have two days. Your choice.

P.S. If this is Nick, I'll let you know what revenge tastes like. It's frickin' sweet!"

Nick felt like he was about to blow chunks all over Judy's apartment. His stomach tightened and he placed his free paw over it as he stared at the note with wide eyes. If he was reading the note correctly, it was all because of him that this happened. Nick dropped the sheet of paper and it floated back down to the desk where he picked it up from. He slowly backed away from the table while keeping his eyes trained on the note that lay completely still. Nick leaned over to his shoulder and pressed the button on his radio to speak.

"This is Officer Wilde. I'm going to need some backup at the Hopps residence. We've got a 2-0-7… She's gone…" Nick released the button and continued staring blankly at the note. There was nearly a minute of silence over the radio before Clawhauser spoke.

"Copy that Wilde, sending backup to your location. ETA, two minutes." The voice of Clawhauser that came from the radio sounded like he'd just been kicked in the stomach and then spat on. He really didn't know how to react right now. All he did was lean against the wall and slide down it until he was seated firmly on the ground with his arms hanging limply at his sides and his muzzle open slightly.

It was only about two minutes before the backup arrived, but to Nick, it seemed like an eternity. Each second passed by in a blur of motion as his mind continued to process his findings. He knew exactly what was going on right now, but he felt as though he couldn't move or do anything. He simply sat on the floor and contemplated the consequences that this could have on his career. He figured that after this whole ordeal was over and done with, no matter what the outcome, Bogo would be asking for his badge. He figured that it was only right since he was clearly responsible for the kidnapping of Judy. An unforgivable crime.

Nick was so stunned by the last few minutes that he failed to notice Officer Wolford enter the small, single-room apartment. The gray-furred wolf noticed Nick right away and could tell that he was not taking things too well. He ran to the fox and knelt down in front of him.

"Wilde, you alright?"

Nick did not acknowledge Wolford or even move an inch. He just kept staring blankly in front of him and breathing shallow breaths. Wolford brought both his paws up to Nick's face and placed them on his cheeks, then with one paw slapped Nick with enough force to knock him out of his stupor.

"C'mon, snap out of it, dude. We've got work to do." Wolford continued to stare into Nick's eyes hoping to get some sort of response from him.

"I… It's all my fault…" Nick mumbled barely loud enough to hear. Wolford wore an expression akin to anger at the statement made by Nick.

"No it's not, and I refuse to let you think that way. Now let's get up and figure things out so we can get Hopps home."

Nick still didn't want to listen to him. He knew that he was to blame for this. Wolford was now tugging on Nick's paws trying to get him to stand up. Nick wasn't cooperating and the wolf was unable to get him standing.

"It's all my fault…" Nick mumbled once more. Wolford had already heard enough of that out of Nick and he was tired of it. He let go of Nick's paws simultaneously, causing Nick to fall back and hit his head against the wall. Wolford grabbed Nick by the shirt with both of his paws and pulled him so close to his muzzle that their noses were nearly touching.

"Goddamnit Wilde! Pull yourself together! Hopps is counting on us to find her, so quit blaming yourself and get off your tail so we can get some payback!" In a final attempt to snap Nick out of his guilt-fueled trance, Wolford wound one of his paws back and delivered a swift and powerful slap to the face. Nick's head snapped to the side and he braced himself with his paw to stop himself from falling over. Nick's other paw went up to his cheek which was now throbbing with pain.

"Haaaaaahhh! Holy mother of… Owwww! Dear God, that hurt!"

Wolford was brought out of his rage and his ears drooped when he saw that he had hurt Nick pretty badly.

"Oh, Jesus. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No, no. I kinda deserved that. I was acting like a total moron." Nick said while scratching the back of his head. "I don't know what I was thinking, honestly. I'm still just trying to process everything. I just feel so useless right now and I feel like it was all my fault that this happened." Nick had placed his elbows on his knees and was now resting his head on his paws. Wolford felt pretty bad for Nick. He didn't know what this felt like. His partner was Officer Rhinowitz, and he was one of the scariest dudes he'd met in his entire life. He could never foresee losing his partner like this. Wolford stepped in front of Nick and looked down at the fox.

"Well, how about we figure this out so that Hopps can get back as soon as possible," Wolford extended his paw and Nick looked up at the wolf.

"You with me, Wilde?"

Nick held his head high and grabbed hold of Wolford's paw.

"Let's get some payback." Wolford smiled at Nick as he helped him off of the floor.

"That's the spirit. Now, I know that you're not very experienced with investigations, but lucky for you, I am. We need to collect evidence right now. Anything that might give us a clue as to what happened in here is good." Nick's eyes moved towards the note on Judy's desk. He knew that was going to be a crucial piece of evidence.

"Take a look at that ransom note over there," Nick said while gesturing in the direction of said note.

Wolford walked over to the small desk and observed the note while he slipped on a pair of nitrile gloves He delicately picked up the note and Nick could see his expression change as he read the short message.

"No kidding. Did you touch this with your bare paws?"

"Yeah. Is that bad? Did I just ruin some key evidence like fingerprints?"

"No, you're fine. I doubt I'd be able to get any decent prints off of this anyway." Nick let out a sigh of relief. He really didn't want to be responsible for destroying incriminating evidence that would help solve this case. "Could you fill me in really quick on the rest of the case?"

"Sure. Damien Meyer is the mink mentioned in the note along with Hopps. He went missing last Friday and we are certain that he was kidnapped, but we just don't know exactly who. We, being Hopps and me, found some white fur and shards of glass covered in blood at his residence. We're still waiting on the analysis to be completed for those, and hopefully, they're done by today. I think the furs belong to whoever abducted Meyer, since the mink has black fur, not white."

While Nick explained the case, Wolford had pulled out a small notepad and pen and wrote down some quick notes on the case.

"Alright, that's good. I'm sure Bogo won't care if I assist you with this one. I don't have anything important that I'm doing right now anyway." Nick's face lit up when he heard Wolford say he would assist him with the case.

"Really? You'd help me out?"

"Of course. No cop should handle a case like this on their own especially when your partner's life is in potential danger, hard as that is to say. Now, this is your case, so I won't be doing everything. I'll help you out with some things, but the majority of the work will be in your paws. That being said, there's something that you need to do. It's definitely the first time you've had to do this and it definitely something you will have to do again. I would do it myself, but she is your partner." Wolford paused as he collected his thoughts. He sighed deeply and clasped his paws together.

"What is it?" Nick said with concern.

"Her parents are probably going to want to know this happened. You need to tell them face to face."


	6. Stumbling Block

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy! Here is the sixth installment that you have been waiting for! This is probably my favorite chapter so far, and I really like everything that happens. Also, a quick explanation of a character that appears later in this chapter. I know I mentioned him earlier in the story, but he hasn't made any other appearances. His name is Martin Pahyne. His last name is pronounced "Pine" like the tree because he is a pine marten (real original, right?) Sit tight because it gets really intense at the end! Enjoy!

As the countryside passed by in a blur of motion, Nick's thoughts were racing and he was trying to collect them before he arrived at his destination. He'd left just a few minutes after he was told to be the informant, and now the three-hour drive was almost concluded.

One would think that amount of time spent all alone in a car would be plenty to decide the best things to say or the best things not to say.

But Nick was clueless.

He had always been quite the wordsmith and never found much difficulty when talking to other mammals, specifically those that he didn't know very well or at all. So why was he feeling so nervous about telling Judy's parents about the situation regarding her disappearance? Perhaps it was due to the sheer weight of the situation, with potentially two lives being at risk. Perhaps everyone who had to do this felt this way, no matter the situation. Or maybe it was just because this was Nick's first time ever delivering news like this. But something else crossed Nick's mind.

Did he really care that much about Judy that it pained him to tell her folks about something he inherently caused?

Of course, he cared about Judy. Everyone knows that partners share a special bond of friendship, and theirs goes beyond just working together. They were friends before they were partners and Judy was a lot more than just a friend to Nick. She was the reason he wasn't living his life on the streets anymore. She was the reason that his life held more meaning than it had before. She was the reason that he got up every morning excited to find out what the day held for him.

I guess it's not so strange that I care so much about her…

Nick slowed the car and turned onto a wide gravel road. A large plume of dust formed behind the car like a big billowy cloud in the sky as he continued down the road. He didn't know what the house looked like, just that it was on this particular road. He paid close attention to the small blue signs at the edge of the road marking the house numbers for estates on huge tracts of land. As the numbers he saw increased towards the one he was looking for, he could feel his heart rate increase, causing him to tug at the collar of his uniform in a nervous and involuntary gesture. He stirred in his seat, hoping that this was not going to go the way he thought it would.

He knew a little bit of what to expect. He knew that they would be upset, and possibly angry. From what he knew about her parents, they had a bit of a distaste for foxes, though Judy had told him that they weren't like they used to be and that she had helped steer them in the right direction. He hoped that any anger that they had wouldn't be directed at him. Perhaps the badge blazoned on his chest would deter that. But they were old country folk, so it probably wouldn't mean much to them. Not to mention he was outside his legal jurisdiction.

He expected a lot of tears. It was a tough situation, and he very nearly shed some tears of his own upon finding out.

But if he was being honest with himself, he expected to barely make it to the front door before a hoard of bunnies attacked him and chased him away knowing how large her family was.

As Nick finally read the small blue sign that displayed the house number he was looking for, he felt all the blood in his head rush out and his breathing become erratic. His heart rate increased dramatically and he could easily hear the thumping that it produced. Nick slowed the car once more and pulled into the small gravel driveway that led to a rather impressive-looking farmhouse.

It wasn't like he expected. It was clean and kept up, not falling apart like he thought a fourth-generation farmhouse would be. It was a very nice place, but it still came with a few things that unnerved the fox. The most terrifying aspect of the scene was the group of young rabbits outside playing in the large front yard. As the now quite dusty police cruiser approached the house they all stopped and watched the vehicle with curiosity, their ears all sticking straight up in the air. Nick was watching them out of the corner of his eye as he slowly crept closer and closer to the house. They mustn't have been able to see that a fox was driving because they weren't running for their lives.

Probably a good start... Nick thought

Nick parked the car and turned off the engine. He sat inside for a few moments as he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. Slapping his face with both paws then letting them slide down his face, Nick opened the door and as soon as his muzzle was shown to the outside he heard several of the young rabbits scream in terror, but the rest of them simply stood and watched Nick as he walked up to the door. He figured they were confused by the fox in the police uniform, something they would never have thought could be possible. He flashed them a smile, being careful to not show off his fangs, and threw them a wink then turned his attention back to the front door.

Nick placed his feet firmly in front of the door then raised his paw in a fist, but hesitated before knocking. He didn't know why he hesitated, but he really wasn't looking forward to speaking to Judy's parents even if it was required of him. He sighed deeply then finally knocked three times. From the feel of the door, it was quite sturdy and made a very pleasant noise when his fist hit the wood. Nick heard the patter of small rabbit feet hitting hardwood floors from the other side of the door and then the unlatching of the front door as it swung open revealing a rabbit who looked very similar to Judy. Nick figured she was one of her litter-mates. The doe looked at Nick with lazy eyes like she'd just woken up, and judging by the slightly matted fur on her head, he thought that might have been the case.

"Hello. I'm Officer Nick Wilde, ZPD. Are Bonnie and Stu home?"

The young rabbit said nothing to Nick, but she turned to the living room and cupped her paws around her mouth.

"Mooooom, Daaaaad! Someone's here to see you!" She turned back to Nick with the same sleepy expression from before. "They'll be here in a bit. Takes 'em a bit of time to get up 'cuz they're old."

The rabbit left and Nick resisted the urge to chuckle as he waited for the Matriarch and Patriarch of the Hopps family. After only a few very long seconds, two larger rabbits appeared at the front door. Nick noticed immediately who Judy got her looks from. Bonnie looked exactly like an older and slightly larger version of Judy, though her ears were quite a bit shorter than Judy's. Stu on the other paw was quite a bit larger than any rabbit he'd ever met. Most of the rabbits that lived in Zootopia were slimmer and taller than Judy's father.

Nick also noticed the fear that seemed to engulf Stu the moment he noticed a strange fox was standing on his front porch. Nick saw the old buck swallow hard when their gazes met. Bonnie remained completely unfazed by Nick's presence, although Nick could tell she was confused by the visit.

"Hello, I'm Officer Nick Wilde, ZPD. May I come in for a moment?"

"S… Sure. Make yourself c… comfortable…" Stu said in a shaky and very obviously nervous manner. Nick ducked under the doorframe and observed his new surroundings.

The interior was just as he expected. Very old, yet kept up pretty well. There was nothing fancy about the house, but everything looked clean and functional. Everything had a place and a purpose, which may have been why Judy was able to live in her tiny apartment. Nick was offered a chair, but he refused. He knew that they would be the ones needing to sit down.

"So, uh… Officer Wilde. What brings you here today?" Bonnie asked. Nick swallowed the lump in his throat that had been there since he began his drive to the Burrows and clasped his paws together.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hopps, I'm going to have to ask you to sit down for this-"

"Oh!"

Nick flinched as he watched Stu's eyes roll into the back of his head and fall back and hit the floor with impressive force. He looked down at the rabbit, who was now unconscious and twitching strangely.

"Should I…?"

"Don't worry about him. He's always like this. Go on." Bonnie said rather calmly, a fact that surprised Nick. The fox coughed into his paw before continuing.

"Right. As I was saying. There has been a situation involving your daughter, Judy. It was earlier today that I went to her apartment after she didn't show up for work. When I went inside, she was gone and only a ransom note was left in her place," Nick took a moment to collect himself before he finally delivered the terrible news, letting out all of his air and refreshing his lungs.

"Your daughter has been abducted. I'm terribly sorry."

Bonnie's reaction to the unsettling news was not as bad as Nick thought. Nick was waiting for her to pass out on the floor just like her husband, but instead, he only saw her violet eyes well up with tears and remain surprisingly calm. It actually confused Nick for a while.

"I… I don't understand… Who would want to hurt her?" Nick now understood why she was acting strangely. She didn't quite believe Nick that Judy had been kidnapped.

"We don't know either, ma'am. It is my case, so it will be my responsibility to get her back. Trust me when I say that everyone at the station likes her too much to let this go unnoticed. Whoever did this will be brought to justice and will be punished." Nick said strongly, hoping that his optimism would potentially ease the new-found ache in her heart.

The moment of silence that fell upon them was enough for Nick to understand that she trusted him.

"Do what you must Officer Wilde. I know that you'll get her back for us." Bonnie said after sniffing back tears. Nick shuffled on his feet before responding.

"I won't let you down. The entire Precinct is counting on me and to be honest, I would hate myself if I failed. I promise you that she will be returned safely." Nick said. His pride was bursting at the seams and he was feeling better than he had since this morning. He now had the trust of Judy's own family as well as loads of support from everyone he worked with.

"I appreciate that very much, Officer Wilde. It makes me feel better knowing that there is always someone looking out for my baby when she's in the big city," Bonnie looked behind her and grabbed a small white box from the top of a large stack. "Now I don't want to keep you here any longer than you need to be since you have a lot of work to do, but may I offer you something to take with you on the road? Do you like blueberries?" Nick eyed the open container which revealed his favorite snack.

He hadn't had any from Judy's farm since that night they solved the Nighthowler case, and he felt his stomach growl when he caught their delicious scent for the first time.

"How could I say no to Hopps blueberries?" he said, receiving the container and popping a couple into his mouth. "Mmm, they are delicious! Thank you for these. I'm sure they'll be gone in a few minutes!" Nick said, causing Bonnie to chuckle.

"You have a wonderful day, Officer Wilde!"

"And you as well!"

Nick exited the Hopps family farmhouse with his blueberries in paw and a smile on his face. Right before the door was shut, he quickly looked back and caught Bonnie's attention.

"You don't want me to wait for him to…?"

"I'll tell him when he wakes up."

"Gotcha."

Nick left the front door and as he made it to his car he heard the door shut. He was relieved that it went much better than he expected and he was glad that nothing crazy happened while he was there. Sure, Judy's father passing out before he even delivered the message was a bit strange, but he was sure he'd be fine.

Nick got situated in the car and prepared himself for the long drive back to the city. Before he'd even left, he considered asking Wolford if he could just call them, but a little bit of thought answered his own question. He knew that he wouldn't want to receive a message like that over the phone. It wasn't very professional and it was also not very respectful; two things that police officers always needed to have in spades.

Nick pulled out of the gravel drive and back out onto the road to begin his journey back to Zootopia. Due to his very quick trip out to the Burrows, Nick wasn't going to have much time to get much else done. He figured a visit to the ZPD forensics department was certainly in line. He wanted to talk to Martin Pahyne, the ZPD forensics lab coordinator that was dealing with the evidence recovered from Meyer's house, and whatever Wolford may have turned up in Judy's apartment if anything.

The realization that nothing may have been recovered from Judy's apartment was frightening to the point of anger. Nick knew that they had very little to go off of, and if there was nothing to give them another lead, then he was unsure about what to do next if there even was something to do. But he still kept his head held high. Nick needed to do this, for a lot of mammals, not just himself.

The trip back to the city seemed to go a lot faster than the one out there, and before Nick even knew it he was driving back into the outskirts of the city and eventually finding his way back to the ZPD headquarters. The sun was beginning its downward descent into the horizon and the sky was slowly turning darker and darker with a vibrant pallet of beautiful colors. Nick parked in the car's designated space and turned the engine off. He exited the car and made his way to the interior of the station. Nick sighed as he entered the building, but instead of going to his office or over to Clawhauser's desk, he turned to the right and found a staircase that he'd never used before which led to the forensics lab.

Nick descended the stairs into the dark recesses of the lab. He didn't know why it was so dark down there. Luckily his night vision had kicked in, but any other mammal would have had a hard time seeing things very well.

Nick was not shocked by the scene that was in front of him. It was a lot of complicated machinery and equipment with wires and cords going every which way. A lot of stuff that seemed very expensive and things that he would not dare touch for fear of ruining them. There was a lot of counter space which was mostly taken up by papers and other things that he was unsure of. It looked a lot like a biology lab at a university, only this was the real thing.

Only one other mammal was in the large room once Nick arrived. That was none other than Mr. Pahyne, the lab coordinator of a rather small size. The pine marten's brownish-gray fur was very glossy and shone in the dim light that engulfed the lab. He remained focused on whatever it was he was looking at on his desk and never noticed Nick walk into the lab.

Nick coughed into his paw, which caused the mustelid to nearly jump in his seat. He looked up and saw Nick while pushing his narrow glasses back up to his eyes.

"Ah, Nicholas. What brings you down here?" he said, getting up from his desk. Nick had never had much of a conversation with him before, and he hadn't even gotten much of a good look at him from their only previous meeting the night before.

Nick could easily see the shiny brown fur that almost had a gray glow to it, and he also saw a small patch of orange fur on his neck that extended under his lab coat. His eyes were just as brown as the rest of his fur and were covered by a pair of narrow-rimmed glasses. He had a long bushy tail that swung happily through the air, just barely brushing the wall behind him. His long, slender body fit loosely in the pure white lab coat that surrounded his upper body and his sensitive ears flicked each time the small analog clock hanging on the wall ticked away another second.

"Well, I just wanted to check on the evidence that was given to you yesterday. Is it ready yet?" Nick said optimistically. There was only one thing he wanted to hear from the pine marten, but the dejected look on his muzzle was all he needed to get his answer.

"Sorry, Nick. I told you that it would be about 48 hours, and right now, it's looking like it could take even longer than that. I never really know how long it's gonna take, so you just have to be patient with me, ok?"

Nick didn't like the answer he got.

"Look, I don't have that much time. Are you even aware of what happened this morning!? Hopps is gone! She was taken by the same mammal that took our mink! I need this evidence! If I don't get it, then she's as good as dead!"

Martin held up his paws in defense.

"Listen, Nick. I heard about what happened, and I'm really sorry about this whole ordeal. But you really need to calm down. I don't think you understand, but I can't do anything about it. I just have to let the machine do its thing. I promise you as soon as it's finished I will personally let you know the results…" After his outburst, Nick felt like a little bit of a jerk. It wasn't like Nick to act like that at work, but that was just how much this case was getting to him.

"I understand fully what you're saying. I'm sorry, I got a little out of paw there. It's just been a stressful day." Nick said, dropping his shoulders and ears as he walked closer to Martin. The pine marten stood at Nick's side and placed his paw on Nick's shoulder.

"I know the pain. I've seen a lot of evidence go through these machines, and too many of those times it came out too late. Believe me when I say that I want it to be finished now." Martin wasn't sure what to say next. He knew something that Nick didn't, and he wasn't sure if Nick really wanted to know.

"Hey, you weren't given anything from Officer Wolford today, were you?" Nick questioned. Martin nearly cursed out loud.

"Unfortunately, no. I was approached by him today after he got back from her apartment. He told me to tell you that he found nothing of use other than a ransom note. I'm sorry, Nick."

Nick let out a sigh of pain as he watched his case seem to crumble into nothingness. He had no leads, no witnesses, and nothing else to do that would progress the investigation any further. To him, it felt like game over.

"That sucks. I really don't know what to do now. All we have is the evidence I gave you. I honestly don't know how I'm going to figure this out before the time's up."

"How do you think Hopps felt when she was given the Otterton case?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she had all odds against her, and if she didn't find him in 48 hours, she would have lost her job. But she never gave up, that's why she succeeded. You can't give up hope, Nick. I know that you'll figure something out. And more importantly, you helped her solve that, so I know you have it in you to do the same with this one."

Nick looked down at Martin and smiled. He never thought he'd be doing much of that after what he discovered earlier that day.

"Thank you. I really needed that. And I have a really important question to ask of you."

"What's that?"

"What kind of a name is Martin Pahyne for a pine marten?" Nick joked. Martin laughed as he patted Nick on the small of his back.

"My parents were not very imaginative. The name's been a curse most of my life." Martin chuckled. Nick patted the pine marten on the back a little harder than he should have, causing him to let out an audible 'oof' as Nick walked towards the stairs that led out of the lab.

"Well, I hope to be hearing from you soon. Take care, my friend." Nick said, turning to him and offering a wave before he walked back up the stairs to the main level of the ZPD headquarters. Nick looked around the lobby which was mostly empty. Even Clawhauser was absent from his desk. It was perhaps the quietest he'd ever seen this particular space in all of the time he'd been an officer.

Despite the very little that he'd accomplished that day, Nick was exhausted. He also thought it was bizarre just how well the day started off, then it just spiraled downward until he felt completely out of it. The sheer emotional stress that had been eating at him since early that morning was finally taking its toll, and Nick was ready to go home.

He walked out of the ZPD with his head hanging low. Despite what others had told him, especially Martin, he really didn't feel like he was going to be able to figure out who took Judy and where she was. Nick didn't want to think about the things that could have already happened to her. For all he knew, she could be dea…

No, she's going to be alright. She is not dead! I can't let that happen.

But Nick was a rational mammal. He knew that was a possibility by now even though the note said he had two days. But nearly half that time was already spent, and they were no closer to finding their culprit than when he first found the note.

The sky was already dark, a few stars were showing themselves in the night, but the moon remained hidden; a new moon. The sidewalk seemed darker than usual and the occasional alleyway that Nick passed on his way to his apartment was as black as coal.

Tonight, Nick took a different route to his apartment. This particular route avoided passing by Judy's. He wasn't really feeling like walking by there and being given a reminder of what happened the night before. Even though he was so cautious, his efforts were completely in vain.

As he walked up to his floor in his apartment, Nick started to weaken. He'd maintained his composure pretty well all day. The only time he was close to breaking was right when he found out, but that was probably because he was too shocked to really do anything else. But now, he was alone, at his door, and he finally let the first tear slide down his cheek. But for a short time, he thought that was all he could muster. After all that he'd been through that day, he only had one tear to give. And as that tear fell from his cheek to the carpet under his feet, Nick felt everything that had gone through his mind that day come back to him.

He walked through his apartment and straight to his room. Nick looked at his bed for a split second before he fell upon it and let loose all that had built up from the entire day.

Nick screamed into his pillow and slammed his fist into the wall hard enough to feel a sharp pain in his paw. He didn't care about that, though. The pain in his heart was far greater than any physical pain he could possibly feel. Nick's tears soaked into his pillow as he hugged it and quivered in his bed. He clenched his jaw shut as he grabbed at his ears and pulled them downward.

He grabbed his pillow and launched it across the room with one final scream of hatred directed towards whoever wanted to ruin his life.

Nick sat on the edge of his bed, holding his sobbing head in one paw and reached for the small framed picture of his first day on the force with the other. He looked at the picture of himself and Judy through tear-filled eyes, wishing that she could be right there next to him in that moment. Nick wiped away the tears from his eyes and spoke out loud.

"Judy, I will not let this go without retribution."


	7. Rays of Black Sunshine

She felt like she was floating in midair.

She couldn't feel anything, she couldn't see anything, nor could she hear anything. Everything around her was a blur of light and dark. Slowly her hearing started to return, but it came back in nothing but a sharp ringing. It was hard for her to judge time, but it felt like hours before she could see anything of her surroundings. But the space that she was in was simply too dark except for the small area that she occupied, which was illuminated by a lamp somewhere overhead. She could only see herself and that she was tied to a chair. It was about this time that she was able to feel again.

The ropes around her arms and legs were tied incredibly tightly which caused very little circulation to make it to her paws and feet. She still couldn't feel much, but the pain from the rope digging into her wrists and ankles was already excruciating. She tried to move her arms and legs, but that only made the pain worse. To try and ease the pain she sat still, but it seemed that no matter what she did she would still feel intense agony. She couldn't help but think that was how it was supposed to be.

As Judy's hearing finally returned, she could hear a strange high-pitched humming coming from right in front of her. She tried to see who it was, but the lights in her eyes were too bright and allowed her to only see a few feet around her position. She heard the humming get closer and closer and eventually turn into a high-pitched shriek of laughter as the form it resonated from came slightly into view. Only white fur was visible along with a pair of glowing red eyes.

"We were wondering when you'd wake up, sleepy rabbit! Haha!" said the shrill male voice as he jumped about the edge of the lamp light. As she tried to catch a glimpse of her captor, all she could hear was a quiet chuckling. Judy coughed slightly to clear her dry throat.

"Doesn't help much when you greet your guest with a tranq dart to the neck. Why don't you show yourself instead of hiding like the coward I know you are!" Judy shouted back. The creepy giggling stopped and before she knew it, a white furred weasel was up close and right in her face.

"Better, rabbit? We were sure you'd rather not see this beautiful face,"

The weasel continued jumping about, but this time he stayed within the realm of light. Judy could now get a much better look at the weasel. He was all white, with the exception of his piercing and rather unsettling red eyes. His fur was matted and messy, looking as though it had been months since it had been washed. Judging from the smell in the air, Judy didn't think that was all that crazy.

"Who's we? There's only one other mammal in here, and that's you!"

"You wouldn't understand, rabbit, but let me explain it to you. There is me, the albino weasel that everybody thinks is a freak because he can't go out in the sun. Even this lamplight will get too intense after a while. That's why you'll be spending most of your time here in the dark." The weasel got into Judy's face once more, his voice dropping much lower and into a sort of growl.

"And then there's the part of me that takes those who get in my way and eventually will make you my next game," The weasel's voice returned to its original high-pitched tone.

"You see, we are one in the same. I can't control who is who. I'm just two individuals in the same body. That is why we have taken you, and that it why we will kill you!" The weasel broke into full-bellied laughter, but his laughing fit was stopped when Judy angrily spat in his face. He stopped in the middle of his little dance and wiped his face with his paw. He narrowed his eyes and brought his fist back and delivered a swift and powerful punch to the rabbit's jaw

Judy's head snapped to the side and her chair nearly fell backward from the force of the punch. He remained a few feet away from Judy and stared at her with a longing to finally put her down. He shook the paw that he hit Judy with and let it rest by his side.

"Believe us when we say, you need to learn your place, rabbit. You will feel things during your time here that you thought you could never feel. We will inflict so much pain on your body that you won't even be able to hear the sound of your own bones breaking. Believe us when we say you are not going to leave this place alive, especially when you pull things like that. A little respect can get you a long way, and that rule still applies here." The weasel delivered a chilling full-bellied chuckle as he paced back and forth.

"Well, if you want respect, may I please know your name?" The weasel smiled as he continued pacing around Judy.

"They call us Ray. Jamison Ray. Many know us only as "The Boss," but most will call us Ray. The name would be quite familiar to your little friend, Nicholas." At the mention of Nick, Judy's ears shot up, but she quickly relaxed and continued trying to figure this weasel out.

"Well then, Ray. What exactly do you want from me?"

"There is nothing physical that you have for us to desire. We want nothing more than your screams. We find great pleasure in hearing them when money is not available. That's why Mr. Meyer is seated a lot like you in a different room. We've already gotten his screams, so you're just extra ear-candy." He once again filled the seemingly large space with echo-y laughter. Judy looked at the weasel, completely baffled by his reasoning for capturing her. It was all just because he wanted some entertainment.

"Really!? You're just going to torture me!? For the fun of it!?"

"Hit the nail on the head there, rabbit! No one ever accused us of being completely sane!" Ray was now standing behind Judy's chair and he brought his muzzle close to her ears and whispered.

"That's why we're going to have lots of fun with you, especially now that we have the ZPD like putty in our paws. Your poor little foxy is going to have to leave the force if he wants to get you out of here alive. There's no way he'll find us any other way." Judy gasped as she heard what Ray just told her.

"You mean the only reason I'm here is that you don't want Nick to be a cop!? How ridiculous can you get!?"

Ray ignored Judy and skipped from behind her chair and out of the light. Judy could hear some metal clanking in the direction that Ray had just gone, but she didn't know what it was.

"Ohhhh! We're going to have so much fun trying out some new toys on you! The eighth-inch bit is still shiny from the package. We think that will be used first…"

All of the blood in Judy's face rushed out when she heard him utter those words.

Did he mean eighth-inch drill bit!?

In the distance she could hear Ray speaking, but she couldn't make out any of the words. She began squirming in her chair. She didn't know what he planned on doing, but she was not about to go along with his plan willingly. She had to get out of this chair. No matter how much the ropes hurt her wrists and ankles, she kept trying to free herself. It was no use, though. Judy heard some shouts, and soon enough Ray had finished talking to himself and had now come out of the shadows with a cordless drill and a shiny eighth-inch bit designed for wood sticking out of the tip. Judy squirmed even more, doing anything in her power to get out of the chair.

Ray set the drill down by her side and grabbed a large strap that was lying on the ground behind her chair. Ray pushed her forehead back so that it was touching the wooden seatback and he tightened the strap so Judy couldn't move her head forward.

"Didn't want you getting nippy while we did some work. That wouldn't be very good if you decided to bite down on an arm or something!" Ray grabbed the drill and pressed on the trigger a couple of times causing the bit to spin with incredible speed.

"This should rip through your tiny paws no problem!"

Judy was shaking so much that she felt like she was going to pass out, and she hoped she did to prevent her from feeling the pain that was about to curse her paws and entire body.

Ray took the drill and jabbed the bit on top of Judy's right paw with one of his and held down her fingers with the other. The pain from him just stabbing her paw with the bit was enough to make her clench her jaw. She tensed up as she braced herself for the coming onslaught of mind-bending agony.

"Smile for the camera!"

Then he pulled the trigger.

The weather in central Zootopia had strange ways of working. It was common knowledge to most mammals that the climate controlled districts had something to do with the weather that acted strangely in the city center, where it was supposed to be the usual temperate climate. And in a bizarre contrast to the previous morning, it was cold and rainy, only about 65 degrees rather than the scorching 92 degrees it peaked at yesterday.

The rain came down quite heavily atop Nick's umbrella as he walked to the station. Even with the large buildings and the umbrella that covered Nick from the top, rain droplets still managed to get his uniform wet from the strong wind that managed to blow through downtown.

Nick walked along with a frown on his face. The memory of his fit of crying last night was a bit fuzzy, but he knew that it happened and that he didn't get very restful sleep because of it. The entire night was filled with nightmares which woke him up about every hour and he wouldn't sleep again for a while, usually crying himself back to sleep, only to be woken once again by another nightmare.

A blast of wind blew several large drops of rain into Nick's face and he squinted and grimaced as they attacked him. He quickened his pace as he caught sight of the station. He trudged up the stairs, into the building, and past Clawhauser's desk, who didn't even greet Nick. The cheetah took one look at Nick and decided he was best left alone.

Nick headed straight for his office, his tail dragging on the linoleum and ignoring everyone that said hello to him on the way there. Before he made it, however, he noticed Officer Wolford standing right outside his office. The wolf seemed to be waiting for Nick. He turned his head and saw the fox walking towards him, an apologetic look on his muzzle.

"Wilde, I know we couldn't get anything from Hopps' apartment, but-"

"It's fine," Nick interrupted. "We'll find something else, I'm sure. But it's not like we have much else to do. We've got one day to figure this out and we don't even know who our kidnapper is, nor where they are." Nick opened the door to his office without looking at Wolford and he walked inside, Wolford staying outside the office space. "I don't know what you want to do about that, but for now I have some things I would like to get done." Nick shut the door before Wolford could even respond and he sat down in his chair and turned on his computer. Nick tapped his fingers on his desk while he waited for the computer to start up and he looked around the mostly empty office space.

It was designed for mammals about Wolford's size, but it comfortably fit two small desks and computers for him and Judy. There was an analog clock hanging on one wall and was otherwise a pretty boring room. Walking inside, a set of small filing cabinets were directly in front of the door on the opposite wall. Two similar desks were to the left and the right, Nick's being on the left. A small fake tree sat in the corner by Judy's desk, the only object that gave the room much life.

Nick twiddled his thumbs as he waited a moment for his computer to be all loaded up and running at usual speed. When it was ready, he logged on and then clicked on the icon which brought him to his inbox. There was a single unread email with an address which he did not recognize. Most unusual was that it had not come from someone else in the ZPD either. Nick wasn't sure how that was possible, but he clicked on the email anyways.

There was no subject, no text in the body. Just a short video attached to it. Nick played the video, which began with something he did not want to see.

The only thing on the screen was Judy tied to a chair. There was nothing else that he could see, just black surrounding everything.

Nick watched with wide eyes as a face appeared in front of Judy, a face that Nick unfortunately recognized.

"Hello there, Nick. Thought we were out of your fur for good, didn't ya?" the face whispered.

This cannot be happening…

"Well, things don't tend to work that way. Your past will always come back to haunt you, even if you think you did everything to get rid of it. That is why we're here with your precious rabbit. We would have called it good with the mink, but you decided to get in the way, so now we've decided to get a little payback. Remember how you ruined our future and everything we had going for us all those years ago? No... Well, we still do! And now it's time for some long awaited retribution!" Nick looked in horror at the video, knowing full well what he did to warrant this overreaction.

"You have one more day before both of them are finished. But for now, how about we give you a little taste of what will be happening to your little rabbit friend in the meantime, no? And don't forget, you have the power to stop this all. Just quit, and I'll drop both of them off in an alley somewhere and this all can go away. But if not, then the plan will be brought to fruition and they will suffer. But hopefully, you will suffer the most. They will at least have the privilege of being brought out of their suffering. You, on the other paw, will have to live the rest of your life wondering why your own selfishness got two innocent mammals murdered in cold blood." The weasel walked away from the screen and over to Judy, where he tied her head back to the chair and taunted her with the drill that he was carrying.

Nick watched in horror as he saw the blood spray from the drill bit and he heard Judy's unmuffled screams of agony. And then the video ended.

Nick pressed the button on his radio.

"Chief. I've got a bit of a situation."

Bogo's response took only a few seconds to be heard by Nick.

"What is it now, Wilde?" Bogo responded with agitation.

"I'm going to forward you an email that I just received. Get Wolford up to your office and wait for me to get there before you do anything with it. We might have just gotten the biggest lead yet as to where Hopps is."

Nick released the button and sprinted out of his office straight up to Bogo's office. He could hear some shouts from Bogo and Wolford on the radio, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Nick sprinted up the stairs and as he was about to Bogo's office, he heard a shout from behind him.

"Wilde! What the hell just happened!?"

Nick turned back to see Wolford sprinting down the hallways after Nick.

"Just get into Bogo's office and I'll try to explain! I think we're in for a long day!" Nick allowed Wolford to catch up with him and then they both ran into Bogo's office. They didn't even bother knocking on the door. They just burst inside and Nick immediately started yelling about what happened. Bogo was barely given a chance to speak.

"Wilde, you best explain everything this instant!"

"Sir, just play the video attached to the email I sent you. It will explain everything I said over the radio."

"This better be good, Wilde," Bogo grunted.

"No, sir. It's really bad what is in that video. That ransom note was serious."

Bogo shook his head and both him and Wolford began watching the video. Nick watched Wolford's and Bogo's expression change as they watched the video go from bad to worse. Nick didn't watch the video again, but he could hear what was going on and cringed when he heard Judy's screams again. Wolford looked like he was about to throw up and Bogo actually looked terrified at what he saw.

After the video was over, Nick spoke up.

"I also know the weasel in the video. I used to work with him many years ago, back when I was on the wrong side of the law. I don't know exactly what he's into today, but I have a feeling that if Duke Wealeston is working for him, it's probably pretty serious-" Nick's ears shot up as he made a shocking revelation.

"Duke Weaselton…" Nick said quietly.

"What? The weasel that attacked you early Monday morning? What about him?" Bogo asked.

"He was trying to get me to quit the police force that night. It was his boss that wanted me gone! I know how we can find where they are!"

"You want to interrogate Weaselton, don't you?" Wolford added. Nick shot him finger guns.

"Bingo, Wolfie. I'm sure he knows plenty about our weasel." Bogo stared down at Nick with an angry expression.

"Do you even know the name of our weasel?" Bogo asked.

"I do. His name is Ray. Jamison Ray, and he's one of the biggest scumbags I've ever met, and I know everybody, so that's saying something. He used to be alright, but then he got dragged into the really nasty type of crime, not the petty hustling that I used to do. I'm talking sex trafficking, drug trade, any type of organized crime he could get his grubby little paws into. I knew deep down that he was a good guy, so I tried to get him out of it."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Wolford asked.

"This is where that revenge part of it takes place. You see, he met some guys who were into organized crime. They told him that he was going to have some super important part in working for them and that he would be getting paid mega bucks for it. Well, since I was a good friend and cared about his well-being, I told his cronies that Ray would not be helping them, and they believed me. Ray tried to tell them otherwise, but they wouldn't budge." Wolford looked at Nick with disbelief.

"I thought you were just a regular old troublemaker back then. That's what Hopps always told me."

"First of all, never listen to anything she has to say about me. Second, I actually had a sense of right and wrong back then. I just didn't care about doing something slightly illegal." Bogo stared at Nick with increasing rage. Nick looked up at the buffalo with a guilty smile before continuing.

"So basically he hated me for it since he lost a crap ton of money. He threatened to kill me in my sleep and he actually tried a couple of times without success, of course. That leads us to here, where he's now a murderous psychopath that is completely paranoid that I'm going to take down whatever organization he heads. Not too sure what got him there, but I don't think that matters."

Bogo had sat completely silent throughout Nick's retelling of his story with Ray. He actually recognized the name from somewhere a long time ago, but he hadn't heard much else about the weasel.

"Wilde,"

"Yes, sir?"

"I'll get you in a room with Weaselton. We'll trace the email to see if we can find out where it was sent from. We're going to get a team to search Ray's home and try to find any clue as to where he has Hopps and Meyer. And in regards to the interrogation, make sure you take nothing from that nippy little weasel while you're in there with him. Have Wolford accompany you if you like, but otherwise, we cannot let this lead take us to a dead end. We have too little time to waste it all."

Nick walked down the brightly lit hallway that was deep within the recesses of the ZPD. It was already past noon and Nick had been hard at work ever since he arrived this morning.

Accompanying Nick to the interrogation was Officer Wolford. The wolf's experience with the ZPD would prove to be quite useful to get good information out of Weaselton. Plus he told Nick that he hadn't interrogated anyone in a while and he really wanted to get some action in.

Standing at the end of the hallway was Chief Bogo, who was to be overseeing the interrogation and making sure that everything remained civilized and under control. He stood at the one-way glass window that gave them a full view of the bare interrogation room.

Nick and Wolford walked up to Bogo who nodded at them and acknowledged their arrival.

"He's ready for you. Wilde. Feel free to ask anything relating to the case, but only this case. Remember, he has the right to remain silent, but don't be afraid to try to force an answer out of him if he refuses to give something very important to solving this case." Nick nodded while staring at the form of Duke Weaselton through the window.

"Yes, sir. Anything else I need to know?" he said, looking up at Bogo. Surprisingly, Bogo looked back at Nick and smiled.

"Have fun in there."

Nick grinned as he and Wolford entered the chamber. His feet hit the floor with each step he took and they echoed off the walls, floor, and ceiling. The heavy metal door shut behind them with a loud clank that caused Weaselton to jump a little. The weasel gave Nick a nasty glare as he walked across the room and over to the opposite side of the metal table. Nick flashed him a wink, which threw off Weaselton's stink eye.

"Well, well, well, Weaselton. What would you like to tell us about your boss? Anything that could give us a hint as to where he may be hiding a couple of mammals while simultaneously doing terrible things to them?" Weaselton leaned back in the large metal chair as much as he could with his paws chained to the table.

"I ain't givin' the boss up, fox. There's no way I do that to him. I know he'd have my tail if I did that, so I ain't sayin' nothin'!" he finished with a triumphant smirk.

Nick glanced at Wolford and then back at the weasel.

"I figured you'd be a bit more cooperative than this. But need I remind you that assault on an officer has a maximum sentence of ten years and fines up to $25,000. That's a long time and a lot of money that I'm sure you don't have. And if we get you for attempted mammal-slaughter, it would be more like thirty years with your record. Now, if you give us some helpful information, I'm sure I could convince the judge to reduce that sentence and possibly do away with any fines at all. I know how much you like your money, so doesn't that sound good?"

Weaselton gulped as his smirk turned straight into a frown of defeat. He really didn't want a lengthy prison sentence, and he definitely didn't want that fine. Weaselton sighed as he leaned forward.

"Alright, I can tell you that the boss took that mink because he owed him some money. The mink…"

"Damien Meyer." Nick interrupted.

"Right. Meyer wouldn't pay him, so the boss threatened to kill him if he didn't fork it over immediately. Meyer moved away, dyed his fur and tried to hide from the boss. Everyone knows that's a bad idea because the boss still found him and now look at what's happened."

"Alright, anything you can tell us about "the boss" as you call him?" Wolford asked.

"Well, he's pretty much insane at this point. It was right after you became an officer that he started to get all paranoid and stuff. Now he's gone completely mental. He used to be such a reasonable guy, but now I feel like I barely even know him."

Nick caught Wolford's gaze and they both nodded. They only needed one last thing from him.

"Where are they?" Nick asked sternly.

"I don't know."

Nick slammed his paw down on the table causing a loud bang to nearly make Weaselton's ears ring.

"I can tell when you're lying, Weaselton! Tell us where they're at!" Nick yelled.

"I promise I don't know!" Weaselton cried out. "All I know is that he does this sort of thing kinda far away from the city! I swear that's everything I know, please don't hurt me…" Wolford placed his paw on Nick's shoulder hoping to calm the fox down. Nick hadn't realized it, but Weaselton was actually shaking in fear after Nick snapped on him.

"Is there anyone else that would know where they are?" Wolford asked.

"As far as I know, no, there isn't. Boss likes to stay pretty private. Ya never really know what he's doin'."

Nick placed both of his paws on the table and he let out a sigh.

"Thank you, Weaselton. That is all we need from you."

Nick and Wolford turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the weasel behind them. They continued down the long hallway the direction that they originally came not saying a word to each other.

Wolford thought the interrogation went quite well. They got a lot of good information out of Weaselton and they were much closer to figuring this out. They knew that Judy was still alive, which was probably the best thing that he'd figured out that day. All they had to do was figure out where they were and they could get this guy into custody.

Nick, on the other paw, did not think it went very well. Sure they got some info, but the one thing that they really needed was still the only unknown. He still felt like Weaselton was hiding some things, but Wolford didn't want him to keep using that intimidation to get what he wanted.

"Why did you stop me?" Nick asked.

"Because," Wolford replied. "He didn't know. Didn't you see the way he was acting once you snapped on him? If he knew he definitely would have given everything up right there."

"Yeah, right. You don't know what he's like. You don't know him personally like I do. He's about as good at acting as Alec Boardwin, the greatest actor on the planet. There's no way you could have known when he was telling the truth or acting." Wolford stopped, turned Nick's back to the wall and placed both of his paws on his shoulders. Wolford bowed his head before looking back up into Nick's eyes.

"You don't seem to understand, Wilde. This was your first interrogation, so I didn't expect you to know when to stop. He was afraid of you. Now I think I know any mammal well enough to know that if he knew where Ray was, he would have said so, and I wouldn't be having this conversation with you. I've done plenty of interrogations and not a single mammal has stayed quiet when we scared the living daylights out of them like that."

Wolford sighed while removing his paws from Nick's shoulders and then he started walking down the hall. Nick stayed pressed against the wall, watching as Wolford spoke right before he disappeared around the corner.

"You act like we have nothing else to go on. Hold your head a little higher and everything won't seem so bleak."

Nick stayed leaning against the wall, staring at the floor. He didn't know how long he was there, but when Chief Bogo approached him, he looked up and saw an unreadable face on the cape buffalo.

"Wilde, the team from Ray's home is back."

"Lay it on me. What'd they find?" Nick asked somewhat snarkily. He knew that was probably going to get him into a bit of trouble. Not showing proper respect for his superiors was something that Nick usually took seriously, with the exception of pushing Bogo's buttons, but at the moment he really didn't care.

Chief Bogo's hesitation was all Nick needed to get his answer. Before he spoke, Nick had already slumped his shoulders in disappointment.

"Not a thing. It appeared that his apartment had been abandoned for months."

Nick was about ready to get up and walk away. He'd heard enough bad news in the last day and he was tired of it. Nick thought back to the previous morning and his usual conversation with Clawhauser. The cheetah mentioned how he liked seeing Nick in such a good mood. Nick liked feeling that way, but then again, who didn't want to be happy? Mammals who remain in constant darkness tend to be some of the most dreadful to be around. After the last day, Nick was beginning to wonder if darkness was really all that bad. His overall attitude towards life had gone from decent to rock bottom in a little over twenty four hours.

As Nick removed himself from the wall and started walking away, Bogo stopped him with a hoof on the shoulder.

"However, Wilde. Your friend Martin from forensics told me to tell you something. As he is currently out at the moment, he wasn't able to tell you himself. The evidence you and Hopps recovered put Ray in Meyer's home." Nick reached over to his shoulder and gently pushed Bogo's hoof away.

"That's what I figured, but it's not really helping. I'm coming to the conclusion that I only have one option left if I want Hopps and Meyer back alive. It'll cost me my career, but I'd rather have nothing than live with the knowledge that I could have saved them. I'll write up a short speech and deliver it tomorrow if that's what it takes."

"Wilde, I don't think that will be-"

"No," Nick interrupted. "It is necessary. Unless you want to have a fallen officer and the death of an innocent civilian on your hooves as well as my paws, I find it very necessary. We don't know where they are, and Ray will not hesitate to kill them both. Unless we can somehow figure this out before tomorrow ends, it's the only way this can end. I have the power to prevent that ending from happening, and I'll do it no questions asked if that means those two get to live."

The buffalo watched as the fox disappeared around the corner. He thought about stopping him to tell his something else, but seeing that Nick was already in a sour mood he figured it was best not to tell him that they were unable to trace the email. As Nick walked away, Chief Bogo was the one coming to terms with the truth. He had been chief long enough to know that a situation like this could only be solved the way Nick said considering the circumstances. It was hard to take, but he knew that tomorrow he'd be saying goodbye to a fresh-faced, yet talented officer. Nick was the epitome of all the good qualities a young officer should have. He was brave, loyal to a fault, not afraid to put his life on the line, put others above himself, and most importantly, he loved what he did. Bogo could tell that Nick didn't want to give up his career, but he wanted his partner alive more than anything.

That was his most admirable quality.


	8. In Forty-Eight Hours

Thwack!

The long wooden pole contacted Judy's unprotected abdomen, causing a sharp, stinging pain to course through her entire body. She had been put under intense physiological stress for the last twenty-four hours. For that time, she had endured the whims of Ray's sick and demented mind, which at the moment dealt with beating her with one of his many tools designed for pain. As good as it may have seemed, she was almost starting to become used to the pain, but she knew that meant something was terribly wrong with her highly damaged body.

Her cheek was swollen from the punch she took and now there were two small holes in her paws, one on each. The pain from that was unprecedented, but by now it was long forgotten. There was much more pain to distract her mind and keep her from thinking about that.

Judy was no longer tied to the chair. Her paws were tied together and she was hoisted about a foot into the air by a rope. Ray had taken great pleasure in exposing her abdomen and the majority of her body for whatever type of game he wanted to play. Her clothes were torn to shreds, barely providing enough coverage to make her feel rather uncomfortable. He danced around her dangling form with a rack filled with all sorts of items for inflicting great pain. The long wooden pole, a whip containing lots of sharp objects for ripping flesh, a simple wooden baseball bat, as well as a few other things she couldn't quite see with one of her eyes which were nearly swollen shut.

Crack!

The wooden pole hit her right in the left knee with a force that was impressive for a weasel, and it was plenty to cause it to pulsate in excruciating pain, likely causing some sort of damage to the bone and cartilage. As she remained as silent as possible, hissing at the throbbing pain in her knee, her feet twitched up and down against her control. Ray took notice and placed the pole in the rack and selected his next item.

"This one should be fun. Haha!" Ray screeched swinging the wooden bat around in circles. He observed Judy's twitching feet and waited until they were flexed in the farthest upright position. When that moment came, he swung downward with all the strength he had.

Crunch!

Judy inhaled and her breath caught as she tried to scream in pain as the bat easily broke her right foot. When she regained her voice, she screamed at the weasel harshly, sending saliva and blood flying in the direction of the weasel.

"What could you possibly hope to gain by doing this!?" Judy lowered her head as she finally wept from the pain. Her whole body had been beaten, she had two holes in her paws, and now a very broken foot. She had tried to maintain that sense of control by keeping her face hard and not letting the enemy see that she was weak, but by now it was pointless. Ray had proven that he was an insane mammal, and very capable of inflicting that death wound that would end her misery, likely without a hitch.

"Why, you ask?" Ray walked right underneath Judy and looked into her tear-filled eyes. "Because we're bored waiting for that fox of yours to finally fail in finding us. Let's be honest, if he really cared about you, he would have quit the force and everything would have been fine for you and that mink. But it's not like we would have let you go even if he did quit. Those screams are what allow us to survive!" Ray took to laughing without restraint and he nearly doubled over on the dirt floor as he clutched his abdomen. His laughter stopped and he took to pacing around the rabbit while simultaneously swinging the bat in circles by his side.

"It's not like he even knows what you're doing to me. How do you expect to get anything out of this if you can't even show him how powerful you are?" Judy said, her voice hoarse and almost too weak to hear.

Ray started chuckling, but it escalated into a screeching laughter that echoed in the dark room they were in.

"You are the stupidest rabbit we've ever met! We sent your fox a little video of you getting your paws hollowed out from last night! He knows very well what we're capable of inflicting upon you."

Judy gasped in horror at what the weasel said. Nick had probably seen the video, and she didn't even want to know what he was thinking. But Judy had just found a flaw in what Ray said.

"The ZPD can track the location where it was sent. They'll be here in no time at all! Who's the stupid one now?"

"Still you," Judy looked curiously at the weasel. "We have quite the knowledge of computers and there is a way to make it seem as though the video was sent from a completely different country, an encryption code developed by yours truly." the weasel said, gesturing to himself with one paw and circling the bat with the other. "Trust us, they won't be coming anytime soon."

Judy watched as Ray walked over to the rope that held her up, which had been draped over one of the wooden supports that held up the building they were in. The rope had then been tied to a wooden column to keep Judy suspended in midair. Sitting on the ground was a small hatchet, and Ray set the bat down and replaced it with the hatchet. He hit the rope, severing its connection to the wooden post and sent Judy falling to the dirt floor. The distance was not all that far, but as she landed on her broken foot, the pain was so excruciating that it left her unable to move and barely able to breathe.

She inhaled deeply as she was dragged by the rope entwining her paws outside of the room where she was finally able to see somewhat the actual location that they were in. It was an old warehouse in the shape of a semi-circle constructed of rusting sheet metal and broken glass windows which the sun shone through. A couple of other rooms were also inside the warehouse, one of which contained Damien Meyer, who was likely getting similar treatment.

Ray stopped and untied Judy's paws, allowing her to move about at her own desire. But she was simply too weak to move, so Judy rested on her paws and knees, coughing and shaking because of the amount of pain she was in. She looked up and saw Ray reaching for some obscure tangled mess. She didn't know what it was and she would have liked it to stay that way. But when he came back into view her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.

Ray was holding a whip made from several strands of a kevlar-like material. Whatever it was, it wouldn't feel very good when it contacted her body.

Her first instinct was to run, but the moment she put her foot down she remembered that it was broken and collapsed to the dirt floor in excruciating pain.

"You actually thought you could run? We would have told you to do so to make this more fun, but we both know you wouldn't get very far with that foot of yours. Why don't you be a good girl and just sit there for us, m'kay?" Ray said. Judy turned to look at him. His form was blurry and her vision was shaky, but the sight of him still made her want him dead. The things that he had done not only to her, but to Meyer as well made her feel anger like never before. She should have been scared of him, but she wasn't. She narrowed her eyes at him, and that was when he took the first swing.

Judy knew it would hurt, but the pain that surged through her back was unlike anything she'd ever felt. It wasn't a sting, but a relentless burning that seemed to worsen with each passing second. Judy let out a piercing scream that echoed throughout the warehouse and loud enough to hurt her own ears. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect on her adversary.

"Oooohhh, yeah! Let us hear you scream some more! There is nothing that makes me hungry for more pain than that!" the weasel said as he wound up and brought the whip down upon the small of Judy's back which caused her to fall flat on her stomach. As she layed in the dirt, she felt like she couldn't move at all. All she could think about was the pain. It hurt so much that a small tear dropped from her eye. But in the midst of all of her agony, something else popped into her mind.

Nick.

There was something about him that put her at ease and for a moment, she didn't care that she was being tortured and severely harmed, the results of which could have lasting or even permanent repercussions. She just lay there, receiving whip after whip, each time letting out a weaker and weaker yelp as she slowly felt herself losing consciousness. She could feel the pain, but it wasn't as bad since she knew that Nick was going to find her and Meyer and end their suffering. But in the meantime, she couldn't do anything except wait. It was the first time in her life that she felt completely useless. But that simply wasn't true about her.

She wasn't useless, she was helpless. She just needed someone more than ever. As her thoughts faded to black, one last sentence popped into her mind.

Nick, I know you will do what is right...

There have been times in Nick's life when it took a lot of strength to face the truth. He wasn't always one to be the grownup and do the bigger thing, do what was best for someone else and have him get the short end of the stick. His chosen "profession" demanded the exact opposite; a win-lose situation where he was on top and some unsuspecting mammal got utterly and hilariously swindled.

But that was a long time ago. He had changed and so had his priorities.

The previous night was likely the hardest night he'd ever experienced. Until nearly midnight, Nick fought with his mind as he worked out how he would unwillingly give up his job. Nick loved what he did as a police officer and he would never have dreamed that he'd be giving it up so soon.

He didn't want to do it. He had to.

Nick was being honest with himself: He was afraid of doing it. He had worked so hard to finally break from that stereotype society had placed upon him that it was painful to think about giving it all up even if it was to save two innocent lives. He didn't want to be seen as a failure. Undoubtedly, there would be many who would think that he was quitting because he couldn't handle being a police officer; because he was naturally inclined to be a no-good troublemaker on the wrong side of the law.

But they had no idea the true implications that brought him to make the toughest decision of his life, to bite the bullet and give in to the demands of a hostage situation.

They might see it one way, but they were uninformed of the real consequences that would smite Nick if he only tried to save his own reputation.

And even if he did decide to leave it be until Ray slaughtered Judy and Meyer in cold blood, they would still see a mammal unfit to be a police officer because he was unable to protect his own partner.

He had never been afraid of society's views about foxes until now. He didn't want to be left as some generalization which didn't apply to him. As far as he was concerned, he no longer fit the stereotype that he once did and there was no way that he would go back to that willingly. But the time was nearly upon him. By noon, he would no longer be Officer Nick Wilde. He would just be Nick Wilde, unemployed Vulpes vulpes.

The last night provided some of the most unrestful sleep he'd ever gotten in his life. He didn't get home until after midnight and he fell in and out of restlessness until about five in the morning where he finally lay wide awake in bed for almost a half an hour. He decided enough was enough and he prepared himself physically and mentally for the day he had ahead of him. He stood in front of his mirror and practiced his speech until he needed to shower and finally head off to his final day as a police officer.

Late the previous night, Chief Bogo had come into his office to discuss the events that would be occurring today. The buffalo told Nick that he might be able to come back to work in a couple of weeks, but Nick was insistent on giving into Ray's demand fully. Nick said that there was too much of a risk that this guy would not hesitate to pull something like this again. Bogo wanted to argue against Nick's reasoning saying that they could find ways to protect Judy further, but he didn't. He couldn't bring himself to try and stop Nick from doing what was inevitable. He knew that Ray was not going to take too kindly to Nick returning after a short time away. It was just too risky.

After feeling slightly prepared for the speech, Nick hopped in the shower, hoping that feeling clean would change his mood a little. The steamy water only seemed to anger him more than before because he couldn't even stand up in the shower. The full weight of the situation had him sitting on the floor of the tub, doing everything he could to hold back tears. He was begging some sort of force to make everything change, to give him one way to make everything better without having to give up his profession. But no matter how hard he wished for that to happen, his pleadings would only be heard by his own ears.

Finally regaining his composure, Nick finished his shower and got himself ready for the inevitably long day. All throughout his morning routine, Nick wore a frown akin to a mixture of pain and anger. He'd felt this way for so long that he didn't even know if he was capable of being happy anymore. The last two days had provided the worst situation he'd ever dealt with in his life and made him feel like nothing could possibly make things turn out. Right now, Nick was prepared for the ultimate lose-win; Ray getting off without punishment and Nick being forced to quit his job, undoubtedly the greatest aspect of his life.

Nick knew walking out the door that morning that when he came back later that afternoon, nothing would be the same from that point onward.

As Nick walked, he continued to think about what exactly was about to happen. He knew that he was about to give up his job and that it would save two innocent lives, but at the same time, his life would become just as bleak as it was before he met Judy. He didn't want that to happen, but even more than that he wanted Judy to live a complete life. He couldn't live with himself if he had the power to prevent that but chose against it for his own good. That wasn't who he was anymore and he certainly wasn't going to go back to that way of life anytime soon.

Before he realized it, Nick was at the steps to the ZPD, the last time he would ever do so while in his police uniform. As he climbed the few concrete steps, he seemed to carry a weight on his back. More than ever he required the railing to get himself up to the front doors. It felt as though the weight of the situation was holding him down, acting as an obstacle in the way of Nick doing what he had to do.

But when he made it to the top of the stairs, that weight did not leave his back. He still felt like something was trying desperately to bring him to the ground and ultimately fail. He knew better than to give into the temptation to let it take him to the ground. He had a job to do and he wouldn't let anything get in his way.

Nick opened the door and walked into the lobby just like every single morning before then. It was all the same. No matter what time of year it was, the scene of walking into the ZPD headquarters was always the same. Not that there was anything wrong with that. He had come to love this building and everything that it stood for. Previously, he would have looked at it with disgust and hatred; he was not one to be very fond of police officers in his hustling days.

As he looked around, taking in the sights for the last time, Nick caught the gaze of Clawhauser who was waving him over to his desk. Nick walked over to the cheetah as he pondered what sort of conversation they would have this morning.

"What's up, Clawhauser?"

"Oh, nothing much. I heard you're resigning today. Kinda sucks, doesn't it?" Clawhauser said rather forlorn. Nick exhaled and rubbed his paws together nervously as he formulated his response.

"News gets around fast, huh? I'm gonna miss this place, for sure. A lot of good memories."

"Yeah. You're sure that this is the only way to do this? You can't do anything else?"

"Trust me, if there was any other way I could resolve this issue, I would do it in a heartbeat. This is the only way to guarantee their safety."

"Well, just know that we all respect your decision. You will be missed around here, that's for sure." Nick smiled warmly at Clawhauser. He could tell from the way he spoke that he wasn't really taking the news too well. In a way, Nick felt bad for his friend.

"It's... not an ideal situation. I don't even really have any plans for the future. I'm sure one of my old friends wouldn't have an issue helping me out for a while." Clawhauser's face lit up with excitement as an idea popped into his head.

"Oh, Nick! If you need any sort of help at all, just let me know and I'd be super happy to help!" Nick chuckled at the cheetah's overexcited attitude.

"That's great, buddy. I'll let you know if I need anything. Now, I have some things I need to finish up. I'll talk to you later!"

"See ya, Nick!"

The reynard walked away from Clawhauser's desk and on towards his office. Nick was happy with the way that the conversation went considering the last time he spoke to Ben it ended very strangely. As he grew closer to his office, Nick got the strange feeling that today was not going to go as smoothly as he hoped. Of course, he hoped that everything would be fairly easy. He felt confident enough with his short speech and for the first time since this whole situation became real, he felt prepared for the day. He actually wore a genuine smile as he opened the door to his office.

When he entered, the room was completely empty and a little bit cold, but it felt nice. He turned on his computer and spun around on his chair as he waited for it to boot up. When it was ready, Nick logged in and instantly saw that he had several emails from many of his fellow officers. He looked through them all, each one regarding his future resignation and how he was going to be missed at the precinct. Each one, though repetitive, made him feel a little bit happier than he was when he woke up this morning. There was a single email that he hadn't looked at when he made it to the bottom of the unread section. This particular email removed that smile of his in a split second.

It was another video from Ray.

This time, Nick did not play the video right away. Instead, he spoke clearly into his radio.

"Wolford, it's Wilde. I've got a bit of a situation in my office. Mind if you stop by really quick?"

"What is is now, Wilde?"

"I'll spare the details, but it's possibly what we've been looking for this whole time."

"Wilde, what is going on now?" came the voice of Chief Bogo over the transmitter, and he did not sound the least bit happy.

"Chief, you might want to see this, too. I think our favorite weasel just DM'd me again, but he's not looking to flirt."

Nick waited for a response, but he heard nothing and assumed that both Bogo and Wolford were on their way to his office.

As he waited, his mind was filled with all kinds of terrible thoughts.

The first was that this was simply a warning for Nick, telling him that he only had a certain amount of time before things really got bad for him. But the next thought which came only a split-second later was the worst-case scenario and exactly what he feared was the case.

Nick was expecting to see his partner strapped to a chair that would in just a few seconds become her final resting place. As much as Nick did not believe that Judy was dead, a different part of himself was saying that this was what he was about to watch. Despite those feelings resonating from deep inside himself, Nick was prepared to take in whatever sight awaited him when he pressed the play button.

In the middle of his thoughts, both Wolford and Bogo arrived at Nick's office demanding some sort of explanation as to what was going on. Nick was not too thrilled to deliver the full story.

"I have another video from Ray. I haven't watched it yet. I wanted to wait until both of you were here." Nick said quietly.

"Well, go on and play it. We haven't got all day." Bogo insisted. Nick did as he was told and he pressed the play button on the screen.

All three mammals watched as the screen went from pure black to a terrifying scene with Judy tied to a chair being the focus. Nick noticed right away that she was under intense physiological stress. She wasn't able to sit still and appeared to be in a constant state of agony. Nick could easily detect bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and she looked visibly thinner from likely intentional starvation. Her right foot appeared deformed, as if it had been run over by a large vehicle several times. And perhaps the worst thing he noticed were the two eighth-inch holes, one in each paw, with dried blood and dirt inside them. On top of all of that, she had cuts and bruises all over her body. Nick only had limited medical knowledge, but he could tell that she was incredibly close to death.

Unlike the last video that he received, Judy was not the only thing visible on the screen. Behind her was a wall of glass panes, some broken and some missing completely. Outside the glass was a very large field with a few trees dotting the landscape as well as another building which looked quite rundown and strangely familiar. An old and weathered road weaved through the field and on towards other places offscreen.

Before Nick could figure out what seemed so familiar about that place, a very well-known and disgusting face blocked his view. Even Ray had seemed to become something entirely different from the last video. He appeared jumpy and twitched a lot more than he previously did.

"You haven't got much time left…" Ray mumbled before breaking into a short fit of giggles. "You'd better hurry up and do something before we finally dispatch these two. Obviously, the mink is offscreen, but we'd say he's looking much like your little rabbit here. But we'll be nice and give you until about five o'clock to decide. If nothing is heard about your resignation by then, their blood will be on your paws." The weasel paused and looked at the ground, turned so that his back was nearly facing the camera, and then looked back up at the camera.

"You have the power to stop this. Don't wait until it's too late for them and yourself."

The video ended and the screen went completely black, leaving all three mammals in complete silence as they processed what they'd just heard. Nick was relieved knowing that Judy was still alive, but he didn't have much time before that changed. He still couldn't figure out why that scene in the background seemed so familiar. Nick decided he would go back to the beginning of the video right before Ray came on-screen so he could take a good look at the area behind Judy.

Nick replayed the video, pausing it right as it began, leaving Judy frozen in time as he studied the background. Wolford got closer to the screen and Nick, slightly confused as to why Nick was staring at that particular point in the video.

"What are you do-"

Nick held up his paw to stop the wolf from speaking any more.

He knew the place very well, but for some reason, he couldn't remember exactly where it was. Nick looked over every single pixel on the screen, bringing his muzzle extra close when he looked at the bottom left corner of the window behind Judy. A certain landmark had just brought him into staggering revelation. A cobblestone bridge with a dried creek running under it was right in the corner of the window, barely making it visible on screen. A sudden flood of memories nearly knocked Nick out of his chair.

"I really am just a dumb bunny…"

"Don't worry, Carrots. I'll let you erase it… In forty-eight hours."

Nick quickly stood up and looked at Wolford and Bogo, who had been watching Nick ever since he started looking at the screen closely. Nick cleared his throat before he uttered five words he never thought he'd be saying since Judy was kidnapped.

"I know where they are."


	9. Zero Hour

The world had seemed to slow down. Ever since they left the station things had moved slowly even though they were currently travelling well over the legal limit. Nick looked out the window to his right and he watched as trees, power lines, shrubs, and fields of grass and crops crawled by. Nick could see their destination approaching. The cluster of old, worn-down buildings was in the distance, the place he once called home about to become his worst nightmare. No matter how things turned out, Nick knew that he would never be able to face this place again.

Nick's senses were on high alert. Every little detail about the world around him did not go unnoticed. He felt the cloth seat in which he currently sat, it's material was rough and uncomfortable beneath his paw. He noticed the fly that had managed to get inside the car which was now flying around the rear-view mirror. It's tiny wings flapped at such a high frequency that it buzzed, but in Nick's mind it echoed like the blast from a rifle in the middle of a rocky mountain range.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing that Nick noticed was the expression on Bogo's face. It wasn't any different from his usual look. Hard and overall emotionless as always.

It pissed him off.

Nick couldn't understand how Bogo wasn't at all affected by this situation. Nick wasn't really all that much better, though. He couldn't see himself, but he knew that he was afraid. The one time he needed to throw away all emotions was the time when he was so gripped by fear that he was shaking and could barely think straight. His paw rested upon the butt of his tranq rifle which sat properly in between his legs with the barrel to the floor of the car. It shook with fear, anticipation, and with anger.

Even more than afraid, Nick was angry, but mostly at himself. Despite everything he'd been told, Nick still felt like this whole situation could have been avoided if he'd done something differently. If only he decided to refuse the case when they first were given it. That would have prevented so much pain and suffering, not just for Judy, but also for Nick. Had he cared more about his life in the past, taking care not to do anything he'd regret in the future, this situation would have never even crossed his mind.

The last couple nights were the worst nights of his life. Only a few times in his past could he remember being scared to the point of tears. All of those times had one thing in common. His life was at risk.

But not those last nights. Somehow, Nick's narcissism had dissolved entirely and everything that he once believed to be true about himself was now the exact opposite. Nick cared more about Judy than he did about himself.

And that was exactly why he was so afraid. There were potentially two lives at risk, one of which showed him how to care about another mammal. He could possibly lose someone that changed everything about him and made him much more than a generalization of his entire species. She was the catalyst that yielded his new and much improved life.

There was a lot on Nick's mind, the most prominent being the events that were about to ensue. From the last time Nick looked out the windscreen their destination was almost upon them, meaning that the time had just about arrived. He sure hoped that there wouldn't be much of an issue. Nick knew that Ray was a fighter and he could do quite a bit of damage for his size. There weren't many officers going along that would be able to catch him if he ran simply because they were too big and he was too small. Nick was the predisposed pursuer if that was the case due to his much more compact stature.

Nick reminded himself of all of the gear which was only used in situations such as this. The kevlar vest felt incredibly heavy on his torso, and the other specially designed clothing covering the rest of his body was tight and hot. He had his tranq rifle as well as a more mobile tranquilizer pistol. And just in case he needed it, everyone had been given a 9mm assault pistol. It was only to be used in very specific situations, but Nick still did not want to have to use it.

Suddenly, Nick felt the car slow down and he was thrown forward into his seatbelt as the car skidded to a stop at the rear of the warehouse that Judy was being kept in. Behind them came the rescue vehicle, housing some of Precinct One's finest officers and two ambulances to treat Judy and Damien Meyer, as well as any possible injuries acquired during combat. Nick did not hesitate to get out of the car, carefully wielding his tranq rifle. As he exited the car, he noticed everyone from the rescue vehicle had also climbed out and were dressed in the same protective gear as Nick and Bogo. They too had rifles and sidearms.

Nick took the time to look at who was present. Bogo and Wolford were obvious. He also noticed Officers Fangmeyer, Delgato, and Higgins.

Chief Bogo got everyone's attention and quickly briefed everyone before they went in.

"Alright, remember the plan. Keep the weasel away from Hopps and Meyer. The sooner we can get him alone the quicker we can get this bastard into custody, got it?" he spoke in a slightly hushed voice. Everyone responded with a salute and an equally hushed "yes, sir!" and Bogo motioned for everyone to follow him to the entrance.

By now, Nick's heart was pumping and he could feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He was so focussed that he didn't even notice the wolf right beside him, placing one of his paws on Nick's shoulder. He turned to face Wolford and just about had a heart attack when he saw him looking into his eyes.

"Hey, I've got your back."

"Thanks," Nick replied quietly, his voice telling Wolford that Nick was dreading what he might find inside the warehouse.

Nick and Wolford looked forward when Bogo stopped at the entrance. They had followed directly behind Bogo with the rest of the officers single file behind them. Bogo opened the door slightly and looked inside. His movements were silent, so all Nick could hear was the gentle breeze and the light patter of footsteps behind him. When Bogo thought it was clear to go, he waved them in and everyone entered the warehouse. It was incredibly dark, but Nick was able to see quite well due to his night vision. Everyone else had turned on a flashlight to see better.

The inside was filled with stacks and stacks of wooden crates and old, rusty vehicles and other machinery. The group weaved in and out of the crates and vehicles, being careful not to make any noise. They didn't know if Ray knew they were there, but they didn't want to give away their presence if he didn't.

When they came upon several different paths through the crates, Bogo waved Nick and Amal off to the left, Fangmeyer and Delgato to the right, and the rest of them followed Bogo through the middle. By splitting up, they could cover more ground quite quickly and hopefully find what they were looking for sooner.

Nick and Wolford continued over to the left where they found a small room next to a flight of metal stairs. The two approached the door and Nick opened it a crack and looked in. Finding no threat, he went the rest of the way in and observed a horrific sight in front of him.

Strapped to a chair with cloth surrounding his muzzle was none other than Damien Meyer. He looked to be in just as bad a shape as Judy from the video and he was trembling with fear as if he thought Nick was going to kill him. Nick approached the mink slowly and whispered to him.

"Damien Meyer, I'm Officer Nick Wilde. Can you understand what I'm saying?"

The mink nodded up and down just enough for it to be noticeable.

"Just stay calm and we'll get you out of here, understand?" the mink nodded silently as he squirmed in the chair. "You're safe now. I promise." Nick looked over to Wolford and got his attention.

"I need you to stay here with Mr. Meyer while I go look for Hopps."

Wolford nodded and Nick exited the room and continued walking towards the other end of the warehouse. He knew that the last video was filmed on the upper level right by the window, so he walked up the stairs quietly and along the grated metal surface. Nick's progress towards the other end of the warehouse was slow, but he wanted to make sure that nothing was going to jump out at him and surprise him. He figured that Ray either didn't know they were there, or he was waiting for his chance to attack.

Soon, Nick was nearly at the back when he saw a familiar, yet different figure laying on a table by the window.

Judy.

He broke into a sprint and spoke clearly into his radio.

"This is Wilde, I have a visual on Hopps. Wolford is with Meyer right now. We've got th…"

Before Nick could finish, something kicked him in the back, sending him face first into the metal beneath his feet and his rifle tumbling over the edge of the balcony to the dirt floor below. Nick knew immediately who had kicked him and he wasted no time in getting back up and reaching for his tranq pistol. As he got to his feet, Nick finally came face to face with the weasel that had been tormenting him for the last few days.

"Ray…" Nick said with disgust. The weasel looked at Nick with his cold, dead eyes and snickered as he came to a stop several feet from the fox, twitching and making strange faces that seemed involuntary.

"Nicholas, how nice of you to join us. We were wondering if you were just going to let the poor rabbit die."

"Not over my dead body." Nick growled.

"Oh really? We'll just have to see if we can arrange that!" Ray said, charging forward at Nick. The platform they were on was too narrow for him to dodge, so Nick took Ray's charge full force which pushed him back until he lost his balance and was finally pushed onto his back. When Ray landed on top of Nick, the fox kicked his legs over his head, sending Ray crashing onto the metal platform where it widened into the area where Judy was. Nick fired a tranq round at Ray, but he managed to dodge it and ran over to the left behind some crates. Nick ran over to the crates, but he found no weasel behind them. Nick looked over at Judy and suddenly felt something wrap around his neck and pull him downwards. Ray had jumped down from on top of the crates and with a piece of cloth, gotten hold of Nick's neck and was about to pull him down to the dirt floor.

Nick tried bracing himself with the metal railing surrounding the entirety of the upper level, but the weasel had brought him too much off balance and Nick slipped over the railing.

Thankfully they both landed on top of some more crates instead of the much farther fall to the ground below. Before Nick could get up, he was shoved off of the crates and fell about ten feet to the dirt floor, landing on his back. He hit with a thud that knocked the wind out of him, Nick coughing and hacking as he struggled to catch his breath. He was on his elbows and knees when Ray landed on his feet a short distance away from Nick. The weasel walked towards the fox and wasted no time in kicking him in the face, causing Nick to lay on his back. Ray looked down upon Nick with a devilish smile.

"Sad. We didn't want you to go out like this. It would have been preferable to have you feel overwhelmed by guilt, then you wouldn't inconvenience us with doing it ourselves. That would have made your death that much more pleasurable." Ray said as he flicked open a switchblade and brought it down towards Nick's throat.

"Goodbye Nicholas…"

They say that in a near death experience, one see's their entire life flash before their eyes. This was not what Nick saw. He only saw the parts of his life that made him feel good. His mother, everyone from the Precinct, and even Bogo.

Judy.

Seeing her smile at him as they saluted each other when he first became a police officer made him remember how important it was that he didn't fail. He promised her that this wouldn't go without retribution, even if she didn't hear it.

Nick felt a sudden burst of energy fueled by anger cause his body to twist in a way that allowed his leg to trip Ray and cause him to land on his back. Quicker than he'd ever moved before, Nick got above Ray, holding him down at the chest with one paw, his other raised above his head with his claws extended. Nick barred his teeth and let out a terrifying growl at the weasel beneath him.

The fox had his prey in his grasp. All that was left was to have his claws slice through the weasel's jugular like a hot knife through butter.

Right before Nick inflicted the death would upon Ray, he realised what he was about to do. Nick retracted his claws and slammed his fist down right next to Ray's head. The weasel didn't even flinch as Nick's fist very nearly came down on his face. He lowered his muzzle until he was plenty close for Ray to hear him.

"I'm not like you," Nick flipped Ray over onto his stomach in one fluid motion and began cuffing him.

"You're under arrest, buddy."

After Nick had Ray pinned to the ground and in custody, Officer Wolford took the weasel from Nick and tossed him in the back of a cruizer. Nick would have done it himself, but he had slipped off into a whole other world. He felt like he was completely invisible as everything around him seemed out of his control. Chief Bogo asked him if he was feeling alright and Nick replied saying that it was probably from the fall that he took. He knew that was a lie. Nick couldn't get himself to look at Judy.

After Wolford took Ray out of his paws, he stood in the same spot looking at the ground with a sullen expression. He didn't move or say anything. Eventually he found the courage to look around a little bit, but when he did the medics were carrying Judy out on a gurney trying to ask her questions. Nick couldn't hear very well at the moment, but from what he caught it didn't sound like Judy was very responsive. Figuring that, Nick was at a loss for words. He was the true cause of this entire thing. Ray was right and everyone else was just trying to spare him some amount of pride.

Nick couldn't handle being in that building anymore. He slowly walked away from the position he had been in for the last several minutes and towards the exit. Wolford tried to get his attention, but he kept walking away and ignoring him. As Nick made his way to the exit he found his tranq rifle lying on the ground, covered in dirt. For nearly a minute he stared down at the rifle and did nothing else. Leaving it where it was, he began once again and drifted out the door to the warehouse for some fresh air.

Nick turned left when he got out and walked over to a small grove of trees. The first tree that he approached was a very old oak with a large, rotund trunk. He leaned against it and slid down it's length until he was seated. Nick blankly stared at the wall of the warehouse twenty feet in front of him and breathed in short increments with his arms hanging limp by his sides.

Nick was relieved that everything was over. Judy and Meyer were alive, Ray was finally in custody, and everything was going to be alright. Except everything wasn't going to be alright, and Nick knew that perfectly well. He didn't know what kind of injuries Judy had, but they were definitely going to keep her away from work for at least a few months. He feared that she wouldn't even be able to return because they were so serious.

He also didn't think Judy would be the same mammal again. She had just been through the most traumatic experience in her life and the chances of her being just as mentally sound as before were minimal. He could already tell that she would be waking up in the middle of the night after having a nightmare about this ordeal, only to be able to cry herself back to sleep and do it all again the next night. He wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle that.

And then there was her whole family. Nick knew that she had a very strong sense of family and they all were very close. He wasn't sure what they would think about this. For all he knew, her father would force her to come back and live on the farm for the rest of her life. He knew enough about her father to know that he could be a bit irrational at times.

Nick sighed as he realized just how much he screwed things up for the rest of her life. Nick was right, nothing was going to be the same. But he hadn't just messed up Judy's life, he had thrown his entire world into near chaos. He would never forgive himself for what he caused.

As Nick sat and tried to understand how he managed to ruin everything, one of the mammals he didn't want to see began walking towards Nick. His hulking form quickly approached and Chief Bogo did the same thing as Nick; he leaned against the tree and sat down next to the fox. Nick didn't even have the will to look at his superior when he sat down. He just felt like that much of a failure.

"How bad is she?" Nick questioned.

"They haven't done a full examination yet, but right now we know she has a broken foot and those two holes in her paws. Later today they'll do a proper examination of her injuries. All we know is that she is very lucky to be alive."

The two sat in silence for quite some time, long enough that Nick thought the shadow of the tree had moved to his side quite a bit. Nick didn't know what prompted him to speak, but for some reason he felt like he needed to confess something.

"I failed, Chief… I couldn't protect her, and now she's going to hate me…" Nick mumbled. Bogo didn't even bother looking down at Nick. He knew the terrible sight that would meet his eyes.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Wilde. I don't think Hopps is capable of feeling hate towards anything or anyone."

"That doesn't matter to me. How could she possibly stand to see me after what I did to her?" Nick said.

"Do what? You haven't done a thing to cause her injuries."

"I am the cause of her injuries! If it weren't for me this would have never happened! All throughout this whole situation, everyone has tried to reassure me that it wasn't something I did. For a moment I actually believed them but as soon as I saw her lying unconscious on that table, I realised that I did that to her. I want to take responsibility for what I caused. I know what I have to do now that it's all over. I was just going to assume that you'd be the one to initiate that process." Nick said. Bogo looked at Nick, slightly confused until he reached for the badge on his chest and removed it from his uniform. Nick admired the badge for a short while before laying it face-up in the dirt between him and Chief Bogo. Nick stood up, and without turning around, walked away with his tail between his legs.

"Thank you for believing in me. That made one of us."

Bogo looked down at the small badge at his side and picked it up, holding it up to his face a little closer. He looked to Nick who gradually furthered himself from the buffalo. He wasn't going to let him get away with that.

"Wilde! Stand at attention!" Bogo shouted. Habitually, Nick stopped and pivoted on his heel until he faced Chief Bogo. He promptly stood with his chin up, chest out, stomach in, and shoulders back with his arms at his side and his feet together.

Bogo narrowed his eyes at Nick, who gave full eye-contact to the buffalo. Bogo raised his hoof in a salute which immediately returned by Nick. Bogo eyed the fox for a couple of seconds. He would never get over just how well he followed orders like that.

"At ease, Wilde."

Nick lowered his paw and brought it back down to his side where he remained in perfect posture. Bogo walked forward and stood just a few feet away from Nick.

"What the hell did you think you were doing? There is no way I am losing an officer today. I came close with one, but because of you, she is still alive. Now correct me if I'm not seeing properly, but I'm pretty sure you were not the one that broke Hopps' foot. You did not drill into her paws. You did not cause any of this, so I refuse to let you think that way! You can't control what other mammals do, and those suffering from insanity are certainly uncontrollable. Jamison Ray was the mammal that caused all of Hopps' injuries. Not you!"

Chief Bogo released some of the tension that he'd held in his entire body and spoke quietly to the fox.

"It may not have looked like it, but I was scared going into this. The cards were greatly stacked against us and I don't think you truly understand how close we were to losing a fine officer today. Do not let that happen to me, or this city, or anyone else that you may come into contact with. This city needs more officers like you, Wilde."

Bogo held Nick's badge down to him and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I think you dropped this. You have the next three days off. Get some rest and come back to work ready to serve and protect."

Nick couldn't think of a more perfect response. Badge in one paw, Nick saluted and spoke clearly for the entire world to hear.

"Yes, sir!"


	10. The Mystery of Heroism

Nick's sleepy eyes lazily opened halfway letting in bright sunlight which was not welcome. He closed his eyes tightly when the brightness became too much for him to handle. He knew that he'd woken up and by now it was pointless to try and fall back asleep, but the unexpected part was that he actually felt well rested. The previous few days had been incredibly stressful and a good night's sleep was not something he had gotten in awhile, so finally feeling ready to take on the day was a good change.

Nick stretched his arms and legs while keeping his temporarily photophobic eyes closed for the time being. He removed the blanket that covered him and sat up in bed, adjusting his pillow so that he could use it as a back rest. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, then blinked several times very rapidly to adjust his eyes to the brightness that filled his room. Nick didn't know what made the room so bright, but he never dealt with sunlight that bright when he woke up for work in the mornings.

Oh wait, I'm off for the next three days… Nick thought. It put a little smile on his face knowing that he wouldn't have to deal with any paperwork for a while. Every single officer at the precinct shared the same bitter hatred of the boring but necessary task, and Nick was no different.

Nick looked around his room for a little while. There was something strange about the way it was lit, and it only took the turn of his head to find out the reason why.

His alarm clock told him it was nearly noon.

Damn, I really must've been tired… he thought.

Nick's internal clock usually woke him up around 7 o'clock under normal circumstances. He'd been doing it long enough that his body was used to waking up at that time, but when he needed his sleep that alarm would be ignored and he would just sleep until he was rested properly. Because Nick had three days off, he decided it would be best if he actually took advantage of the time to get things done instead of lay in bed all day.

Nick began by taking a shower as per usual. The water felt fantastic on his fur and he couldn't get enough of it. For nearly twenty minutes he just stood under the cascade of steamy water until he realized just how long he had been in the shower. He got out and dried himself off while whistling happy tunes to himself. He went into his room and got dressed for the day. Nick's choice: His favorite green tropical shirt and purple striped tie with a pair of khakis. He was probably going to regret wearing pants today since it was so hot, but that was a small price to pay when he "looked so darn fine," as he would usually tell Judy.

Judy… He made a mental note to go to the hospital and see her later. That was something that he couldn't forget to do.

For now, Nick looked himself over in his mirror. Feeling satisfied with how he looked, Nick went out into his living room to begin his productive day. The first thing on the menu was cleaning his apartment. But when he looked over everything, he saw nothing out of place or anything that had been waiting to be cleaned up for months. His apartment was spotless like he was about to have important company over to discuss important business. He never really thought about it, but that was probably due to how he only ever really was in his apartment to sleep.

No matter. There are always bills to pay… Nick thought. The fox looked at his dining room table which had a small pile of unopened mail on it. He flipped through the mail, only finding junk from retail stores he didn't even shop at and companies begging for him to sign up for a credit card. Nick knew that the mail for today hadn't arrived yet, so he walked into the kitchen and opened his fridge. To his surprise, it was actually mostly filled up. He looked in the cupboards, but they were also filled with food.

I need to stop eating out so much… Nick thought.

Nick leaned his elbows on the counter and rested his head in his paws and sighed. He really didn't have anything he could do today, or tomorrow, or the day after that. Nick stood up straight and walked into his living room. He let himself fall lazily onto his couch where he rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. The boredom was already starting to kill him from the inside and he needed to find something to do. If there was one thing that he hated more than police paperwork, it was boredom.

Nick sat up on the couch and tried to think of some things that he could do. He thought it could be fun to go walk around the mall and see if anything caught his eye, but he didn't want to do that alone. Under normal circumstances, he would have asked Judy to go with him.

Nick's stomach growled and he remembered that it was already about time for lunch. He figured that he should get something to eat, but he wanted to do something else after that.

Nick groaned as he continued to think, but come up with nothing else that he could do other than eat. The only other thing that he wanted to do was go see Judy, but he didn't even know if she was awake yet. Of course, he could still go and see her even if she was unconscious, but he just wanted to talk to her and hear her respond. After several moments of contemplation, Nick decided that he was just going to go even if she wasn't awake yet.

However, Nick couldn't muster the strength to get up and actually go to the hospital. He figured that Judy was going to hate him due to the situation that put her there in the first place. Nick knew that Judy wasn't someone that really knew how to hate, but something told him that she wasn't going to be so keen on forgiving him. But Nick wasn't going to find out if he kept sitting on the couch and staring into space. He had a mission to complete. If he didn't go there and ask for forgiveness, then she might never forgive him. He certainly didn't want to have that on his paws, so Nick finally got up from the couch and walked over to the door.

I know that I screwed up, but I need to make things right between us. What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't apologize? Nick thought. As he walked out of his apartment, Nick was starting to feel a little better about doing this. He knew that she would be angry at him, but who wouldn't be? Nick did something that caused another mammal to seriously harm her, nearly killing her. She had every right to be angry at him, or even hate him.

As Nick looked in the street for a taxi, another thought popped into his head.

Would it be fine if she didn't forgive me?

Nick knew that was a very real possibility. This could potentially be the most she had ever been wronged in her life, so it wouldn't surprise him if she wasn't willing to forgive him. Nick knew that if that happened to be the case, their friendship would be ruined and any chance of them being able to stay partners was minimal since she was likely to hate his guts. But Nick wasn't really all that worried, even if that was the most realistic situation he could think up. As he hailed a taxi, Nick thought he would be fine if they couldn't be friends anymore. A small part of him did cherish that friendship and would be devastated if she rejected his partnership at work and in their normal lives, but the more grown-up part of Nick said that he would still survive if they couldn't make things right between them. He was just going to have to take it and he was alright with that.

"Savanna Central Hospital, please," Nick said after getting seated alone in the back.

"Savanna Central Hospital," the driver, a snow leopard, repeated in a thick accent.

Slightly bemused by the driver's strange quirk, Nick stared out the window and mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. As the buildings passed by, Nick felt his stomach growl violently, which was loud enough for the driver to hear. Nick caught his speckled glare in the rear-view mirror and felt a small wave of embarrassment wash over him.

"Hungry?" the driver asked.

"Incredibly. I woke up late today." Nick said.

"You sure you don't want to stop at Bugga Burger first?" Nick turned back to the window as he felt a light blush form in his cheeks.

"No thanks. I just want to get this over with…" Nick responded.

"Okaaaaay." The driver of the taxi said. After a few minutes of silence, Nick was really starting to feel hungry, but he wasn't lying when he said he wanted to get the visit over with. Before he left, he was feeling psyched up about it, but now he was beginning to wonder if it was a mistake. But it was too late. He wasn't going to turn back now and admit defeat. That wasn't who Nick Wilde was, and he certainly wasn't going to change that now of all times. Nick's stomach growled once again, but this time not quite as loudly.

I'm still really, really hungry...

While Nick did have a much stronger will than most mammals, his love of food was one that could not be tamed. A quick stop at Bugga Burger was all Nick needed to satisfy his undeniably empty stomach. The fact that the driver, whose name Nick later learned was Ranjit, paused the meter while he ran inside made his meal that much more delicious.

Nick ate on the way to the hospital and by the time they had arrived, Nick had pretty much forgotten all about the anxiety that was previously accompanying him. Nick exited the car with his paper bag filled with wrappers and gave Ranjit a wave. He bid Nick farewell with a goodbye and drove off, leaving Nick at the hospital. Nick stared up at the massive medical institution while continuing towards the front doors. He threw away his garbage in the bin right at the front and entered the establishment. In all his years living in Zootopia, Nick had only ever set foot in the hospital once, and it was something he would never forget in a million years, but for all the wrong reasons.

Nick kept walking and eventually found the receptionist desk where he asked a friendly female pig where he could find Judy's room.

"Hello. Could you tell me where Judy Hopps is currently staying?" Nick asked politely. The sow typed on her computer and then looked up at Nick with a smile.

"Looks like she's in room 437, open for visitors. That'll be the fourth floor and down towards the end of the hall to your right. Just look at the signs overhead if you get lost." she said. Nick thanked her and found the elevator, which he barely caught. Nick tapped the button for the fourth floor and rode silently up to his desired level. When the elevator chimed and the little screen in the top right corner indicated the fourth floor, the door slid open and Nick started down the hallway. Each passing step he took seemed to increase the uneasy feelings that resonated deep within himself. He thought he was ready to face her, but as he grew closer to actually admitting his failure, Nick wasn't so sure. Nick looked at the placards outside each of the doors and read them to himself as they slowly increased towards the one he would soon be entering.

"434… 435… 436…" Nick stopped when he turned his head and saw what came next.

"437…" he mumbled to himself. The door was open and inside Nick could see a small gray figure lying on a mound of pillows with her right foot in a cast and bandages wrapped around both of her paws, leaving her fingers free to wiggle. She had both of her paws resting on her stomach, tapping her fingers over each other and trying to pass the time. Her violet eyes, usually so full of life, looked dull and tired as if she were missing something. She still hadn't noticed the fox standing outside her door, and Nick was dreading the moment when their eyes first met. But he also felt excited. He hadn't spoken to her since they last bid farewell at her apartment and he wanted to finally hear her voice again. Nick faced his back to the wall and tried to give himself a pep talk.

"Listen, Wilde. You can't let this get to you. You are better than this. Just go in there and tell her what's on your mind…" Nick nearly jumped into the ceiling when he heard a quiet and frail voice come from Judy's room.

"Nick?"

He couldn't hide anymore. She knew he was there. It was time for him to face his fears.

Why do rabbits have to have such good hearing!?

Nick took in a deep breath before slapping himself in the face a little bit harder than anticipated. Trying to act natural, he walked into the hospital room. The first sight that greeted him was Judy, her ears perked up and a big smile on her face. Her eyes instantly seemed to regain some of the glow that they were supposed to have.

"Hey, Slick," she said quietly. Nick felt a smile tugging at his lips.

"Hey, Judy."

Nick noticed it right away, and it worried him a little bit. As soon as he said her name her smile fell away for a second, but then it came back only not quite like it was before. She seemed troubled by something, and he knew right away that she was anticipating a talk. Nick walked over to her bedside where two chairs were already. He took one and scooted it closer to her.

"What's this 'hey, Judy' business? I can't get a proper greeting?" Judy joked.

"Well, unless I'm mistaken, the name "Carrots" is not on your birth certificate. Feel free to correct me, though." Nick said.

"You're such a dork."

"Only the most lovable dork in the world."

"You got that right. How come you're not in your uniform?" Judy questioned.

"Oh, Chief gave me the next three days off."

"Well lucky you. I've never been given more than a day off."

"What about right after the Nighthowler case? Didn't you have like two weeks off after that?"

"Not quite the same thing. My leg was healing and I couldn't work until it was fully healed. You, sir, are just fine."

Nick scratched the back of his head as he prepared what he was about to say next.

"I wish that were true..."

Judy looked at Nick with a confused look.

"What do you mean? You look fine to me."

"Physically, I am perfect. But emotionally, I feel like a trainwreck. Judy, there's something that I came here to do today, and my original intention was not to have a casual conversation with you. As much as I would love to do that, there's something I need to get off my chest." Nick took a moment to compose himself with a deep breath. He looked into Judy's eyes, and for a moment he thought he saw fear in them.

"Judy, I need to apologize. I did something that was unforgivable and I regret it. If I could go back and change the past, I would do it no questions asked. I hurt you. I am the reason that you're here right now. If it weren't for me, he would have never felt inclined to do all those things to you. I'm really, really sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, but it seems like I didn't try hard enough…" Judy put one of her fingers over Nick's mouth. Judy narrowed her eyes and wore a stern expression that actually scared Nick a little bit.

"Shut up, you stupid fox."

"Wait… what?"

"You heard what I said. I don't need to hear an apology from you because you didn't do anything wrong."

"But… you're not mad…?"

"Why would I be mad, Nick? This was not your fault. I don't know who told you that, but I want you to stop thinking that. I can tell that you've been beating yourself up about this for a while," Judy gestured to her entire body. "You weren't the one that did all of this to me. Even if his motive came from something you did to him in the past, you couldn't have possibly known then what it would cause in the future. If anything, I should be thanking you, Nick. You saved my life and without you, I wouldn't be here right now. I would have lived out the rest of my days in the company of some mentally deranged weasel. You put a stop to that. So thank you, Nick. I'm glad that we're partners and I'm glad that you were there for me."

Nick was speechless. All this time, he thought that it was his fault that Judy was kidnapped. He didn't know why he was so stubborn that it took Judy saying it herself to realize that it wasn't his fault.

"I… I don't really know what to say. I'm really just glad that you're ok. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I let him… uh…"

"Kill me?" Judy said.

"Yeah… that. I couldn't even bring myself to say it. I'll be honest, I was afraid that I would lose you. We're great friends and I love working with you. I would have felt like a failure if we couldn't find you in time."

"I always believed in you, Nick. I honestly don't know how you did it. I don't really remember where that place even was. I only ever saw the inside."

"Believe it or not, it was the bridge."

Nick looked at Judy, who tried to remember what 'the bridge' was. Suddenly, her memories of apologizing to Nick under that bridge came back and she gasped at the realization.

"Wait, you mean that bridge!?" Nick nodded with a smile on his face. "That's crazy. I wonder what possessed him to take me and Meyer all the way out there…"

"Beats me, but I'm glad he did." Nick shrugged.

The two sat in relative silence for a few moments before Nick started the conversation back up again.

"So, how much longer are you going to be in here?" Nick asked.

"I should get out tomorrow. I could have left today, but they wanted to make sure my foot was going to be alright for crutches." Judy held up both of her paws, showing the bandages around her palms. "They also wanted to make sure these didn't get infected. They've actually already started to heal pretty well," Judy said.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what were your injuries?" Nick mumbled.

"Oh, I don't really mind talking about it. I have a broken foot, a minor fracture on my left tibia, three broken ribs, the holes in my paws, a mild concussion, and lots and lots of cuts and bruises, specifically on my back from the whip. Add dehydration and starvation to that list and I'm lucky to have survived."

"And they expect you to be able to live on your own with all of that? You'll barely be able to walk." Nick said. He was actually concerned about how Judy would get around once she was released from the hospital.

"You won't have to worry about a thing. My parents left about ten minutes before you got here. I'm going back to Bunnyburrow while I heal. It's going to be about three to six months before I'm able to get back to regular duty. I'll probably be back in three but be restrained to desk duty. It'll be nice for me to get to see the family for a while, but I'll still miss work."

Nick hadn't thought of that. He was prepared to have her stay at his apartment in his spare bedroom if she needed help, but she already had that covered. A part of Nick was a bit saddened by that. They wouldn't see each other for potentially six months.

"That's great, Judy. It's really cool that you're so close with your family. My parents were the type to never say "I love you" or anything like that. They never showed any affection towards me, so it didn't really bother me when they…" Nick stopped. He figured he was getting too detailed. "... nevermind. I don't want to bum you out with a terrible story… Anyways, you sure you're gonna be able to handle all that time without seeing me? I can tell that you've missed my grumpy face and it's only been three days." Nick joked.

"Trust me, I think I'll be a bit relieved to have a break from your button pushing and interesting sense of humor," Judy said. Nick placed one of his paws over his heart and pretended to look offended.

"Way to make me feel bad, Carrots. Ya know, it kinda hurts when you say things like that." Nick even went as far as to add a few sniffs at the end for effect. Judy crossed her arms and shook her head.

"I think you'll live…" Judy said. She kept her mouth open like she wanted to say something else, but she soon looked down in her lap and leaned back against her mountain of pillows. Nick took this as his signal to leave. He wanted to stay longer, but he figured she was pretty tired and the way her ears now rested behind her head and how she seemed to struggle to keep her eyelids open he knew that she was getting ready for a nap.

"Well, Carrots… If I don't see you before you leave, have fun back home and get healthy again so we can get back to work…" Nick had prepared that sentence long before he said it, modifying it when he found out she'd be going back to Bunny Burrow to heal, and he fought with himself internally on the last word that he muttered.

"...together."

Judy had lifted her gaze from her lap to Nick's piercing green eyes. She stared into them not wanting him to leave. She could easily stop him, but she could tell that he wanted to go. She didn't know if anyone else would visit her that day, so she felt as though Nick was the only other mammal besides family she would get to see for a while. The doctors didn't count in her mind. They were just doing their jobs.

She was loving their conversation and didn't want it to end. She needed to tell him something, but what she wanted to say could not be expressed with words.

"Nick…"

The fox, who had begun his turn towards the door stopped and looked back at Judy. Her face was unreadable. Not even his prior years of hustling helped him deduce what she was about to say.

"C'mere. I want to tell you something."

Nick resituated himself in the chair and stared into her eyes waiting for her to speak. After a few moments of silence, Nick wondered if she had forgotten what she was going to say.

"I'm listening…" Nick said.

"No, it's a secret. You need to come really close…"

Nick, being the only other mammal in the room, gave her a look as he leaned in close so that Judy's muzzle was right next to his face. The fox suddenly felt her paws grasp the back of his neck and his other cheek. The sudden sensation of her touch sent chills down Nick's spine, causing his fur to stand on end. Nick felt her pull him closer and he felt the gentle caress of Judy's lips touch his cheek for a brief moment before she moved away. For a while after the actual contact, Nick thought he could still feel her lips on his cheek. Judy had moved from Nick's cheek to his ear. Nick felt her breath tickle the sensitive furs inside his ear before she whispered softly to him.

"Thank you… You're my hero..."

Judy removed her paws from Nick and she settled back into her pillows. She looked up at Nick who remained in the same position as when she kissed him. He blankly stared at the wall with his mouth slightly open. Judy could hear his heart beating rapidly in his chest and its rhythm slowed to slightly higher than normal after nearly a minute of Nick staring at nothing.

Without saying a word, Nick stood up and walked towards the door. His footfalls seemed to echo in the silence that encompassed the room. As Nick reached the door he placed his paw on the door sill and looked back to Judy. She smiled at him and gave him a wave. Nick smiled back, and he didn't need to force it like he would have earlier that week. For the first time in a while, Nick felt content.

He walked out of the hospital room alone, but not lonely. Nick felt something odd about the last few days and what resulted from them. It was as if the title of "hero" didn't belong in association with his own name. And to him, it didn't.

He just did what was right.


End file.
